SKOPJE (Macedonia), October 22 (SeeNews) – Macedonian public utility company Vodovod Bitola JP has launched the construction of a 360 kilowatt (KW) hydro power plant in the Bitola city, worth some 500,000 euro ($749,000), local media reported on Thursday.
The small plant, situated on the Dragor river, should be put into operation at the beginning of 2010 and will be financed by company’s own resources, Utrinski Vesnik (www.utrinski.com.mk) quoted Vodovod Bitola's director Zoran Ilioski as saying.
The company expects to sell electricity worth some 6.0 million denars ($145,861/ 97,379 euro) per year and return its investment in three-four years.
The local authorities of the central city of Bitola said that similar projects will follow, according to Utrinski Vesnik.
“We are negotiating with several investors, who are interested in solar energy production,” Bitola mayor Vladimir Taleski was quoted as saying. He did not reveal the investors' names.
The central municipality of Bitola has a population of 86,408, of which 74,550 live in the city of Bitola.
(1 euro=61.6145 Macedonian denars)