Albania/ Court cancels construction of four hydropower plants on the Sushica River, Vjosa's Subsea

The First Scale Administrative Court Tirana decided on Wednesday the abolition of administrative acts related to the planning of building four hydropower plants over the “River. Sushica”, under the Vjosa River, declared National Park in March 2023.

The decision came after the indictment of the 28 residents of Vlora's village of Brataj and two environmental associations, “EcoAlbania” and “Impitus”, which opposed the construction of hydropower plants.

According to the indictment, residents opposed the Environmental and Environmental Influence Rating conducted by the National Environment Agency, and environmental contract and permission for the HEC construction project, approved by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, to benefit society “Sushica Hydropower”.

The plant project envisioned the use of water from the Sushica River for 35 years for energy production.

In its ruling the court found legitimate the prosecution parties, the community of residents and the two organisations and decided to annul acts that paved the way for the construction of 4 hydropower plants, while representatives of institutions have not declared whether to complain.

“After nearly 3 years, our work and dedication were rewarded as a campaign to protect Vjosa and lawyers, in the ongoing effort to protect Vjosa and its branches from devastating projects, said Besiana Guri, representative of “EcoAlbania”

“We believe that authority will reflect after this decision, which comes at the time when Vjosa has been declared National Park, not appealing it”, she added.

Organization “Eco-albania” said through a statement that this is an important victory for Shusica and Vjosa, but also for the Albanian lawyer.

By “EcoAlbania “, the decision from the view of judicial practice is a quality step forward because it paves the way for an administrative contract to be contested by the public, without being the contractative side”.

Meanwhile, another indictment over the exploitation of the “river Sushica” at the expense of the residents of the area is being considered at the First Stair Administration Court in Lushnje.

The community of residents and environmental organisations oppose the Himara Aqua project, which envisions the deviation of the main sources of the Sushica River to supply this municipality.

The Bern Convention Committee, a few days ago, at the annual meeting in Strasbourg, greeted the Albanian government “for suspending work on the water supply project in the Himara municipality, following instructions provided by the World Organization for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) expert, and including local communities in discussions and decision-making processes”. / VOA