The transboundary threat of the Mokrice Dam: The fight for the Sava

The long-standing battle to protect the Lower Sava River in Slovenia has reached a critical tipping point. For over two decades, the state-owned energy sector has pushed to build the controversial Mokrice hydropower plant. While developers claim the environmental impacts will stop at the Croatian border, an in-depth story by CEE Bankwatch Network exposes this as a dangerous myth.

Downplaying the destruction
Mokrice is planned as the fifth and final link in a chain of destructive power plants on the Lower Sava. If completed, it will swallow up the last remaining natural stretch before the Croatian border, triggering severe ecological consequences:

• The dam will severely disrupt and degrade water quality, directly threatening downstream ecosystems.
• Just across the border, the Sava is part of Croatia's protected Natura 2000 network, home to endangered fish and bird reserves that rely on a healthy river.
• The project will cause backwater flooding up the Krka River and other tributaries, expanding the ecological damage.

Out of step with modern Europe
The Mokrice project is a relic of a bygone era. It would generate a mere 1% of Slovenia's annual electricity—a fraction of what modern, low-impact solar energy already produces in the country. Building a new dam directly violates the EU’s shift toward river restoration and its goal to free 25,000 km of rivers by 2030.

The message from activists and legal experts is clear: the Mokrice project must be permanently cancelled, the intimidation of activists must stop, and the Sava River must be protected.

Read the full, in-depth analysis on the CEE Bankwatch Network Website.