Expressions of interest are invited by 7 May to build the 42.5MW Blanca plant, which is due to be commissioned by May 2009.

The Blanca project is being designed to deliver an average annual electricity output of 160GWh, and a budget of almost Euro86M has been assigned against the scheme.

Blanca will be the second hydro plant built by HSE on the lower Sava, which has a flow for potential use by the stations of about 500m3/sec. The first plant was the 32.5MW Bostanj, which is immediately upstream of the Blanca site and was commissioned mid-2006.

HSE plans a total of five hydro projects on the lower Sava with a total installed capacity of about 168MW by 2018. A plant is to be commissioned approximately every three years, and a budget of around Euro 405M is attached to the programme.

Future plants to be built downstream of Blanca are the 41.5MW Krsko plant by 2012, the 41.5MW Brezice plant by 2015 and, lastly, the 30.5MW Mokrice plant. In total, the electricity output is expected to be more than 720GWh.

HSE was awarded its concession in 2002 as part of the country’s deregulation of the electricity market. The tender process is being handled by its Infra unit.

CONTACT: Email: tajnistvo@infra.sl. Fax: +386 07 81 63 814.