Komarnica Dam: Postponed instead of canceled
The Komarnica River will continue to flow freely through its eponymous gorge—at least for now. The project has been temporarily halted, but is not off the table.
The planned Komarnica Dam would destroy this pristine gorge.
© Nebojsa Atanacković
Protest action during a public debate on the Komarnica hydroelectric power plant project in Podgorica. The posters read, among other things, "We won't destroy nature for 1% of electricity" and "Water is life, not profit."
© Montenegrin Ecologists Society (CDE-MES)Montenegro's state-owned electricity company has withdrawn its application to continue the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Komarnica hydropower project. Unfortunately, the Montenegrin Environmental Protection Agency failed to completely reject the EIA for the environmentally destructive project, as recommended by an expert commission. Instead, the process has merely been suspended, leaving the door wide open for another attempt at project implementation—especially in light of an announced change in the law that is intended to allow for the circumvention or at least a significant acceleration of permitting procedures in the future.
"This decision lacks any legal basis and merely serves to buy time for the investor. It is a serious example of legal manipulation and an attempt to circumvent mandatory standards," emphasizes Andrijana Mićanović, Secretary General of the Montenegrin Ecologists Society .
"The current development is a Pyrrhic victory, indicating that the decision clearly violates the interests of nature and the civil population," says Dr. Amelie Huber , River Project Manager at EuroNatur. "Yet, in our opinion, these interests should be more of a focus for the Montenegrin environmental authority than those of the investors."
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