Slovenian court suspends Mokrice HPP construction project

The Administrative Court suspended the procedure on the basis of a lawsuit launched by DPRS against a government decision adopted on January 27 to issue a building permit for the project, the association said in a statement.

"The court upheld DPRS's arguments, pointing out the irreparable damage that the construction of HPP Mokrice would cause to protected nature, especially certain protected animal species and habitats in Natura 2000 special protection areas," the association said.

Mokrice, to be built by Hidroelektrane na Spodnji Savi (HESS), will be the fifth and last hydropower plant in the Lower Sava cascade located just before Slovenia's border with Croatia. The cascade will have an installed capacity of 187 MW.

In September 2020, Slovenian water turbine manufacturer Litostroj Power, part of Energo-Pro Group, signed a 19 million euro ($23 million) contract to deliver equipment to Mokrice.

($ = 0.8247 euro)