Serbian Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlović said yesterday that the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the areas that enjoy first, second and third-degree environmental protection will be prohibited. Asked by journalists in Kovačića, where she visited a wind farm, Mihajlović said that the issue will be solved by the new law on renewable energy sources.
She said that mini-hydropower plants have been a hot topic in recent years and there has been a lot of talk about them.
“Perhaps the issue of small hydropower plants should have been solved by a completely different law from another Ministry, but this did not happen,” Mihajlović said, pointing out that the new Law on Renewable Energy Sources will also regulate the issue of the construction of small hydropower plants.
“This means that in the protected environmental zones of first, second and third-degree, the construction of hydroelectric power plants will be prohibited, regardless of whether they are small, large or medium,” Mihajlović added.
She also underlined that there will be no construction of hydropower plants in those areas regardless of their capacity and strength.
“We already have Djerdap 1 and 2. Large hydropower plants in national parks can only be considered, and only the government can decide, with a decree, whether to build them providing they are of the highest state and national interest,” Mihajlović clarified. This, she says, is important because there were problems in the construction of small hydropower plants, especially diversionary ones.
Yesterday, Minister Mihajlović visited the Kovačica wind farm with Israel’s ambassador to Serbia, Jahen Villan, representatives of the local administration and EMS.
(B92, 18.03.2021)
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