For years, the Leshnica Valley in North Macedonia’s Sar Mountain National Park has been caught between plans to harness its mountain rivers for electricity and efforts to preserve one of the country’s most valuable natural areas.

Now, that long-running conflict is entering a new phase as infrastructure installed for two planned small hydropower plants is being dismantled and removed.

Small hydropower plants are often promoted as a source of renewable energy, but in mountainous protected areas they can come with a different environmental cost. Water diversion, access roads, construction works and associated infrastructure can alter river ecosystems and fragment otherwise relatively undisturbed landscapes.

The HPP projects, Pena 84 and Pena 85, were never completed or put into operation. But the infrastructure left behind in the valley has remained a visible reminder of the hydropower plans — and of the difficult balance between renewable energy development and the protection of fragile mountain ecosystems.

Sar Mountain National Park public institution says the current removal is the result of a longer institutional process aimed at protecting the area and eventually returning the disturbed landscape as close as possible to its natural state.

“For the Sar Planina National Park, the dismantling and removal of the installed pipeline infrastructure associated with the planned small hydroelectric power plants Pena 84 and Pena 85 is an important first step towards restoring nature to this exceptionally valuable area,” the public institution told IntelliNews in a written statement.

Sar Mountain is a vast high-mountain massif stretching along the border between North Macedonia and Kosovo and is recognised as a European biodiversity hotspot with exceptional natural value. After decades of efforts to secure protection, North Macedonia’s parliament declared part of Sar Mountain a national park in June, 2021.

It covers around 63,000 hectares and is one of North Macedonia’s most important protected areas.

The Sar Mountain National Park says the operation is being carried out in coordination with the relevant state institutions and requires particular care because of the mountainous terrain, difficult access and ecological sensitivity of the site.

There is an important distinction, however: the authorities are not removing two operating hydropower plants. Pena 84 and Pena 85 were planned projects whose construction was never completed and which were never put into operation. What is being removed now is the pipeline infrastructure that had already been installed in the Leshnica Valley.

Pena 84 was planned with a capacity of 2.89 MW in the area of Bozovce, while Pena 85 was designed for 2.46 MW in the area of Vesala.

The two projects were developed by the local company Gravis Hydro, which held the concessions for Pena 84 and Pena 85. The projects were among a number of small hydropower developments planned on Sar Mountain, where the expansion of hydropower has long been a source of controversy.

For the national park, the issue goes well beyond the status of two unfinished energy projects. The park has argued that new hydropower plants are incompatible with the protection regime of Sar Mountin.

“The management plan does not allow the construction of new hydroelectric power plants in any of the three protection zones of the National Park,” the institution said.

The plan also identifies the disruption of ecological processes in river ecosystems caused by hydropower infrastructure as one of the significant threats to the mountain’s natural values.

The case also has a wider environmental dimension. The Pena River Valley is part of the area identified for future Natura 2000 sites and is included in the Emerald Network, established under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.

The national park has also pointed to recommendations of the Bern Convention’s Standing Committee concerning hydropower projects in national parks, protected areas and candidate Emerald areas.

Leshnica is not just another remote mountain valley. It is considered one of the most valuable natural areas of Sar Mountain and one of the park’s best-known and most frequently visited locations. That makes the removal of the pipes particularly significant — but also raises the question of what happens after they are gone.

The national park says the ultimate goal is not simply to take away the infrastructure, but to rehabilitate the disturbed terrain and return it as close as possible to its natural condition.

“... the real success will be achieved when the last pipe is removed, the area is properly rehabilitated, and all necessary institutional and legal procedures related to these two projects are completed,” it said.

The opposition has also come from nearby communities. According to the national park, residents of Bozovce and Vesala have raised concerns about the stability of the terrain and the potential risks to their villages, while expressing opposition to the continuation of the projects.

The controversy is also tied to Tetovo’s water supply. The route planned for the two hydropower plants runs alongside the infrastructure supplying drinking water to the city, while the park has raised concerns about unstable terrain and possible landslides in the area. The removal now taking place is therefore the result of months of institutional discussion rather than a sudden decision in the field.

On January 8, the Sar Mountain National Park submitted detailed information on Pena 84 and Pena 85 to the government, outlining the legal, environmental and factual aspects of the projects.

The issue was subsequently considered at several government-level meetings. The park says its position is based on North Macedonia’s Law on Nature Protection, the law establishing Sar Mountain as a national park and the park’s management plan.