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Updating old water system

February 17, 2015

Tourism in Montenegro is booming, putting a strain on already scarce water resources. The country is now overhauling its water infrastructure to meet the growing demand for electricity.

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Image: Katharina Bahn

Clean energy - Montenegro modernizes its hydropower plants

Project goal: Modernizing hydro power plants, building a modern water network with pumpstations, waste water pipelines etc.
Project size: Two hydro power plants supply 658 megawatts of electricity. Around 200,000 local residents and more than 40,000 tourists benefit from the water network each year.
Project volume: 17 million Euros for renovating a water plant in Piva. 116 million Euros from Germany’s KfW development bank for the water network and 40-50 million Euros from local muncipalties and the government in Montenegro.
Carbon savings: 750,000 tons each year.

The mountainous country of Montenegro located on the Adriatic Sea meets 70 percent of its electricity needs with hydro power. Tourism has developed rapidly along the country’s coastline, putting a strain on precious water resources. When water levels fall in summer, Montenegro needs to import coal-powered electricity from its neighbors. Now, with technical and financial help from Germany, the country is modernizing its outdated hydro power plants and is even planning to build new ones. Montenegro's goal is to cut its reliance on coal in the long term.

A film by Katharina Bahn