Energy · Bulgaria

How much did the Tsankov Kamak hydropower plant in Bulgaria cost?

Tsankov Kamak is an 80 MW hydropower plant (two 40 MW turbines) on the Vacha River near Devin in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria, owned by NEK EAD, with a 130 m double-curvature arch dam and a reservoir of 111 million cubic metres; it completes the Dospat-Vacha cascade. Civil works by the Austrian company Alpine Mayreder and equipment by an Austrian group began in 2004. Costs were first estimated at about EUR 220 million but at least doubled, partly because of a 22 km access road reported at BGN 222 million, and Wikipedia gives roughly EUR 500 million, in line with a Bulgarian MP's 2017 remark of more than BGN 1 billion; the project became a symbol of cost overruns and alleged corruption.