Plans to build the 174.2MW Gorna Arda hydropower complex in Bulgaria have been put on hold by Austria’s EVN, with the company suggesting that changes in the energy policy environment in the country mean that project development is currently not possible.
In its latest financial report for the first quarter of 2016/17, EVN said that the project’s “realisation is not possible under the current circumstances" and that ‘Impairment losses of EUR 28.9 million were therefore recognised during the reporting period”.
Back in 2010, EVN and Bulgaria's state-owned power utility NEK established a company to build the complex – which would consist of three plants: Madan, Ardino and Sarnitsa. EVN owns 70% of the company, with NEK taking the remaining 30%.
