TIRANA, May 1 – Hydropower development plans along the Vjosa River in Albania, one of Europe’s last wild rivers, could lead to the extinction of two critically endangered fish species growing there, a study has found.
Currently, two hydropower plants have been given the final okay to develop along Vjosa, triggering protests by local and international environmentalists, worried over dams posing a key threat to the unique local ecosystem.
“Vjosa is by far the longest unspoiled river in the Adriatic basin and habitat for the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla Anguilla) and the regionally endangered twaite shad (Alosa fallax),” says the study examining endangered fish species along Balkan Rivers.
“Expansion of hydropower facilities in the last major free-flowing rivers on the Balkan Peninsula such as in Albania are a major threat to regional fish populations,” it adds.
The Vjosa River flows 192 km undammed through Albania to the Adriatic, making it one of Europe’s longest and most unspoiled river systems.
The study by Austria and Germany-based Riverwatch and EuroNatur environmental watchdogs has revealed that 113 endangered fish species find habitat in Balkan rivers between Slovenia and Greece, more than in any other region in Europe, making Balkan rivers Europe’s fish sanctuary.
Eleven fish species would go globally extinct and another 38 species would be driven closer to the brink of extinction if the projected hydropower plants in the Balkans were to be constructed, notes the study.
“Hydropower development is endangering 10 percent of all river fish species in Europe. Thus, hydropower constitutes the biggest threat to our continent’s fish fauna,” says fish expert Steven Weiss of the University of Graz, the author of the study.
About 2,800 new dams are currently projected between Slovenia and Albania, which has pushed ‘EuroNatur’ and ‘RiverWatch’ to launch the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign in order to counteract the spate of destruction.
“Avoidance of hydropower expansion in these rivers would conserve a considerable number of species. Additionally, regions of Greece, Albania and Republic of Macedonia where all climate models support significant reductions in precipitation should consider whether additional hydropower exploitation is at all wise,” warns the study.
Albania’s domestic electricity production suffered a severe setback in the second half of 2017 as the country faced one of its worst droughts in decades, leading to costly electricity imports and underlining the need to diversify power sources.
Back in mid-2017, a first instance administrative court decided to suspend the Poà§em hydropower plant construction works, but the legal battle continues and there are few hopes the project could be cancelled as the Albanian government has already concluded negotiations for the 35-year concession contract.
The Pocem HPP is a 100 MW HPP that will be built by a Turkish consortium that plans to invest about 101 million euros in the next three years and produce an annual 305 million kWh.
In late 2017, the government also awarded a Turkish-Albanian joint venture a contract to reactivate the abandoned Kalivac hydropower plant, the first concession HPP Albania awarded in 1997.
The concession was initially awarded to Italian businessman Francesco Bechetti whose Albania assets, including a local TV station, were seized in mid-2015 on suspicion of money laundering and fraud-related offences.
The concession plant will be a dam HPP close to the Kalivaৠvillage, in the southern Albanian district of Tepelena, along the downstream of Vjosa River from the quota of 113 meters above the sea level to the quota of 73 meters.
Another study has shown that the boom in hydropower plant construction in the past decade has put significant pressure on the environment in Albania and international financial institutions are also to blame for this for financing the controversial projects.
A recent report by Bankwatch, a Czech Republic-based environmental and human rights group which monitored two European-financed HPP projects in Albania and six others in Croatia and Macedonia shows HPPs in protected areas are inflicting serious damage to nature and biodiversity.
Albania produces all of its domestic electricity from hydropower, three-quarters of which from three major state-run HPPs. Some 177 HPPs, mainly small and medium-sized ones built under concession contracts, are currently in operation and another 43 HPPs are under construction.
The Albanian government has earlier reacted to environmental concerns, saying that the Poà§em and Kalivac are the only HPPs that will be built on the Vjosa River and the rest of the river will be declared a national park, making it the first natural river in Europe to obtain such protected status.
Similar HPP projects along the Valbona and Shala rivers in northern Albania have also triggered protests and environmental concerns and even legal action by local residents who fear their emerging local tourism industry could receive a severe blow.
In its latest Albania country report, the European Commission says investments in renewable energy projects other than hydropower need to be further explored.
“Plans for future plants (on the Vjosa and Valbona rivers, etc.) have generated debate about the need to address ecological considerations. Doubts have been expressed about the quality of strategic environmental assessments and environmental impact assessments carried out on energy projects,” says the report.
