CDB pledges EUR 1.275 billion loan for Vardar Valley Hydropower Project

On April 11, 2011, China International Water and Electric Corporation, Government of Macedonia and China Development Bank signed an MOU of Vardar Valley Hydro-Power Project. The project is also be known as “Vardarska dolina." The goal of the project is to regulate the water potential regime and use, spatial planning, protection of goods, the social aspects and exploitation of water resources. The contracting of the project is supposed to be undertaken in four phases. The Vardar Valley Hydropower Project envisages the construction of 12 hydropower plants along a 200-kilometer stretch of the Vardar river from the capital of Skopje to the Greek border. The major power plants are: Veles HPP with a production of 300 million kWh and Gradec HPP with 257 million kWh. Other smaller hydro-power plants have been deployed in cascades down the river stream, with a production of 60 to 130 million kWh, depending on the location and flow. CDB is said that it planned to extend a loan worth EUR 1.275 billion (85% of the total amount) and the Macedonian would be responsible for the other 15% of the total cost (EUR 225 million). The expected borrowing terms of the CDB loan were not disclosed. As of early 2021, there was no evidence that a CDB loan had been finalized or that project implementation had begun.

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