The Energy Community Secretariat published the Policy Guidelines – Small hydropower projects. This document is intended for all member-countries, primarily the ones from the Western Balkans. This document shall be useful to the developers of SHPP projects, as well as to the authorized institutions and general public.
During the last several years a certain public dissatisfaction with the construction of SHPPs was evident in several EC member-countries. This dissatisfaction was not reflected only in protests in public, but also in grievance directed towards the EC.
Therefore, one of the goals of the Guidelines is also the harmonization of the SHPP construction process with the environmental impact assessment procedures, with the objective of abatement of adverse impacts of this construction upon the environment.
The Guidelines also handle some other important topics, primarily the ones related to SHPP financing, i.e. incentives. The Guidelines were adopted after their draft version was the subject of public consultations in duration of one month, and during that period a number of comments and suggestions has been received, coming mostly from NGOs.