The €465-million Gabčíkovo overhaul will take a decade. The tender took almost as long, and critics say too much about the deal remains hidden.
Eleven years ago, when the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico took over the Gabčíkovo hydroelectric power plant in south-western Slovakia from the Italian company Enel, it promised that the state would take better care of it and invest in its modernisation.
Since then, however, the state has failed either to procure its refurbishment or to secure the necessary funding. That has now changed. After several tenders were launched and subsequently cancelled, a winner has finally been selected.
Slovakia’s largest hydroelectric power plant, which generates around 8 percent of the country’s electricity, will be modernised by the Austrian company Andritz Hydro.
The problem is that, over the years, the price tag for its comprehensive refurbishment has risen from €80 million to more than five times that amount. According to the Central Register of Contracts, the project will cost €465 million excluding VAT. Including VAT, the price will rise to €572.6 million.
