“Building a Hydro Powerplant in Kosovo"

By Jackson Allers

(Adapted from’Ekonomia e Re’ TV segment by Arta Pllana)

Hello and welcome. You are listening to UNMIK On-Air. I'm Jackson Allers.

The Hydroelectric plant Kozhner lies on a stream 15 kilometers northwest of the Decan municipality in Western Kosovo. Built in 1956 by the Former Yugoslav Government, the plant has been dormant for six years.

Triangle General Contractors, an Albanian-American company based in New York is hoping to revitalize the aging plant and stimulate foreign investment. Hasan Cacaj, a lawyer by profession, is a Kosovo representative for Triangle who lives in Decan. He spoke to UNMIK On-Air for the Economia E Re television program.

Cacaj: “Optimism is our motto we thought that with this investment we would attract other investors. We are not going to wait until the status of Kosovo is solved, but we are initiators and are the first to be working in this field, around energy.”

For more than 5 years now, Kosovans have experienced a regular shortage of electricity. And foreign investment offers in the Kosovo energy market have dwindled over the last 2 years.

But, Triangle General Contractors has invested €7 million in repairing the Hydro plant ‘Kozhner” after surveying the possibility of opening future hydroelectric facilities in Kosovo.

Cacaj: “Since the Hydro Power Plant is the property of the Kosovo Electric Company, we have a contract with KEK and at the same time we are under the supervision of the Kosovo Trust Agency. There are actually two contracts, one for the rent and one for energy distribution.”

Triangle projects that it could take as many as 10 years to start making a profit from their initial investment. But they’re confident the project is a moneymaker.

The Albanian-American company’s main consultants in the repair and surveying process came from Slovenia - a country that relies on some 540 micro hydro plants to handle the brunt of their electricity delivery.

Standing in front of the main collection pools for what will be a fully functioning hydroelectric plant, Haxhi Krasniqi says that Kozhner will be able to produce 8 megawatts, enough for the entire Decani municipality.

He says the water that will be used to run the plant turbines is collected 3 kilometers upstream from the facilities’ main location.

Krasniqi - “This pool is used to collect the water, and is actually used as a water intake facility from three directions that feed into the main plant: Kozhnjer, Bistrica e gjuetarëve and Baballoq are all water sources for Kozhner plant that flow into the direction of the main collection pool. In all, the journey of all three water sources into the final collection pool is about 12 kilometers.”

Currently, the exterior of the Kozhner plant is almost completely finished, but the inner machinery of the plant, including the turbines, will take up to 9 months to complete. They’ve been sent to Slovenia for repairs.

What will the plant ultimately mean for the residents living near the plant?

Faik Nahi, a Strategic Development Officer for the Kosovo Electric Company explains.

Nahi: “The Kozhnjer Project is a project for the Decani area and will certainly benefit this part of Kosovo. The plant will boost the quality of life through better energy distribution and it is expected to employ as many as 17 workers, which will benefit 17 families for a longer period of time.”

Atmosphere: Generator Noise

Meanwhile, the noise of electric generators continues to interrupt the relative calm in Kosovo these days - power cuts seem to be getting more frequent as winter approaches. Their noise reminds everyone that all possible solutions to the energy crisis have to be looked into.

And this concludes today’s edition of UNMIK On-Air. Please stay tuned as UNMIK On-Air brings you news and views from in and around Kosovo.