The Regional Strategy for Sustainable Hydropower in the Western Balkans (‘the Study’) was proposed in March 2016, at a meeting of WB6 Energy and Transport Ministers, and included in the Declaration of the 2016 Western Balkans Summit in Paris. The initiative originated from a request for a more integrated approach to hydropower development in the Western Balkans, in light of a) WB6 need for the immediate rehabilitation of old hydropower plants; b) development of greenfield investments, particularly small hydropower plants, frequently undertaken in a manner which would not allow for the sustainable use of water resources in the region, or the protection of the environment, communities, and social heritage.
The purpose of the intervention was to develop a Study, including a list of hydropower project (HPP) development priorities by: (i) river basins; (ii) individual WB6 economy; and (iii) type of planned HPP facilities (storage, run-of-river, reversible). Apart from greenfield projects offering additional power generation capacities, the Study aimed to identify the rehabilitation needs of existing HPP capacity and their reconstruction possibilities. The overall objective was to foster the development of environmentally and climate change-sustainable hydropower generation in the WB region, in line with the strategic objectives of the European Union (EU) and the Energy Community Treaty (ECT) obligations of its Contracting Parties (CPs).
