The area of the Vardar Valley has been the focus of interest in its current development and particularly in the last two decades. These interests amplify depending on the specific geopolitical and economic situation of our country, and various aspects of integration of the interest to landscape this area into the development plans at the regional level, as well as the specific interests of developing the economy as a whole.

The complex landscaping of the Vardar Valley will include:

• Construction of facilities for energy use;
• Construction of systems for the development of agriculture;
• Construction of systems for the development of tourism industry, sport and recreation;

On the Vardar stream, which means the water-flow stretch from Skopje to the border with Greece, which is 200 km long, 12 hydro-power plants have been planned for construction, of which the major ones are: Veles HPP with a production of 300 million kWh and Gradec HPP with 257 million kWh. Other smaller hydro-power plants have been deployed in cascades down the river stream, with a production of 60 to 130 million kWh, depending on the location and flow.

By the construction of hydro-power plants on the river Vardar, the following objectives have been set:

• Change in electricity generation structure by increasing the proportion of hydro-energy or energy generated from renewable sources.
• Minimize the impact on the environment through the use of water as a renewable and efficient energy source.
• Reduce energy dependence of the country through the construction of hydro-power plants as domestic energy sources.
• Improve flood protection through the regulation of watercourses.
• Prevent the lowering of underground water level in the entire area.
• Promote national development through the use of water potential as an effective source of electricity production.

 Project Vardar Valley