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. Having financially backed local organisations like the Slovenian Native Fish Society in this campaign for years, we remain fully committed to stopping this destructive dam.

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