Confluence of Sava and Krka rivers in Slovenia. The Sava river provides important habitat to fish species © Marko Zupančič

HPP Mokrice on Sava in Slovenia stopped!

Recently, the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia invalidated the environmental permit of the Mokrice HPP on Sava river. The projected hydropower plant cannot be constructed – for the time being, the Sava is safe.

The lawsuit against the project was filed by the Slovenian Native fish Society (DPRS) in December 2018. In its recent decision, the Court pointed to a number of procedural and substantive irregularities. The court annulled the environmental permit and returned it to the Environmental Agency for a new decision.

The projected HPP Mokrice would endanger important fish habitat and mitigation measures suggested by the investor HESS are insufficient. The investor HESS has tried everything to cover up its shortcomings and denied DPRS access to information. On the basis of the lawsuit, the DPRS received important environmental information, such as the ichthyological studies only three years after requesting it – only once HESS had acquired the environmental approval.

It is an example how investors are ruthlessly pushing their projects through, without any respect to nature, people and laws.

Read the press release by DPRS in Slovenian

Confluence of Sava and Krka rivers in Slovenia. The Sava river provides important habitat to fish species © Marko Zupančič