Campaign against small hydro power plants launched in Montenegro

The World Wild Fund (WWF) said that small hydro power plants are harmful to the environment because they pollute and drain rivers, even though they draw energy from renewable sources. The WWF has launched a campaign against the construction of small hydropower plants – SHPPs – in the Balkans “because it is a game in which we all lose.” Part of that campaign is the petition to ban all Balkan governments’ plans regarding putting rivers into pipes. Such a petition was launched in Montenegro.

“Our region is home to the last free-flowing rivers in Europe, but they are under a lot of pressure today. State incentives are the main reason why around 2,700 SHPPs are planned across the Balkans. If this is not stopped, hundreds of rivers will be destroyed. With this type of construction, we could lose 5,000 km of untouched rivers,” reads a statement from WWF and Bankwatch, announced on the occasion of the World’s River Day, September 27.

WWF points out that the primary motive for constructing more than 50 small hydropower projects on 33 Montenegrin rivers is the established socially – economically unacceptable and financially harmful system of incentives for electricity production from renewable sources (RES).

WWF has launched a campaign in Montenegro and the region to stop state incentives for small hydropower plants. Without them, most of the 2,700 small hydropower projects in the Balkans would be unprofitable then stopped.

“Don’t be a loser either, sign the petition at losingrivers.com/cg and join the fight to save rivers in Montenegro and the region,” the WWF said.

Citizens Are Protecting Rivers with Their Bodies

People in the north of Montenegro have been protecting the endangered rivers with their bodies for months. Despite the intense storm, the residents of Bare Kraljske gathered today to say once again: “Not a drop”.

Milovan Labović said that no storm would shake them. Only one outcome was possible, the rehabilitation of the area and a ban on the construction of small hydropower plants on all watercourses.

The rivers visibly swelled from heavy rainfall, and soil erosion occurred at the water intake site. The storm didn’t prevent Plav activists from attending today’s protest and giving support, PCNEN reports.

Source: total-montenegro-news.com

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