Scope

Link to the Project

The Action contributes to the technical maturity and consequently implementation, of the Project of Common Interest PCI 3.24 Hydro-pumped storage in Greece –Amfilochia,and therefore provides a more precise estimation of its investment cost in order to start the subsequent construction phase.

The main objective of this Action is the preparation of the detailed design including the tender documents for the Agios Georgios and Pyrgos pumped storage projects, in line with international practice.

On that note, supporting technical studies and planning are prerequisites for the effective implementation of the PCI, whilst main design accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment defines the exclusive methods of the whole process, in order for the Investor to accomplish the project in the most reliable, feasible and viable way. Consequently, the detailed project design contributes to avoiding failures during construction, operation and maintenance of the project.

Activities

Action Management
Action Management ensures the processes of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources, procedures and protocols, in order to achieve successful implementation of the Action. It is a core horizontal activity, transcending all aspects of a preliminary design review in terms of cost assessment and respective business plan, managing of procurement and contract whilst simultaneously providing quality control of the design/tender documents and carrying out the progress monitoring and reporting. It will also contribute towards performing all the necessary actions ensuring the Action is properly communicated and that adequate promotion/publicity is achieved to raise awareness among key stakeholders. Lastly, a sound engineering practice, based on national and international standards, will be followed with safety and quality as prime requirements. They will be properly appraised, reviewed, revised and supplemented, where necessary, in accordance with the findings of the field investigations, laboratory tests and subsequent studies.
Supporting Technical Studies
Before proceeding to the Main Design it is essential that a group of supporting studies is carried out. These include Land Surveying (e.g. aerial photographs and earthly topography in appropriate scale, at the area of dams, intakes, power stations), initial Geological (e.g. detailed mapping and initial drillings) and Geotechnical Studies (which will assess the whole in situ research and the relevant findings in order to define the appropriate construction materials), as well as an Energy Studies optimization (based on possible project modifications incurred after updating the preliminary design. Gathered data, not only will provide the necessary input for conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment, but it will also help refine key outputs of the project’s design, such as the initially estimated installed capacity and the amount of energy produced/pumped.
Main Design
Main Design is the core element of the Action and covers the hydraulic and M&E (Mechanical and Electrical) designs for dam and waterways, Civil/M&E designs for the Power stations, road access and interconnection design. This stage represents the critical phase before the compilation of detailed design because it is during this stage that all the alternative solutions for the Action's structures are reviewed, taking into account the findings of the previous stage. Main Design’s deliverables are reports, drawings and the bill of quantities.
Environmental Impact Assesment
The main objective of this activity is the compilation and subsequent issue of the Environmental Terms Approval for PCI-3.24 by the Ministry of Reconstruction of Production, Environment and Energy, following the evaluation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study. The EIA study will take into account the technical parameters of the ongoing Main design and the physical interventions expected to take place during construction. The Environmental Team will assess the environmental impact of the planned project and elaborate the EIA report, accompanied with all relevant documentation. The issue of the Decision on the Environmental Terms Approval completes the environmental permitting procedure and constitutes a prerequisite for the issuance of the construction permit.
Detailed Design
Detailed Design will follow on from Main Design, so that the whole Project Design process is finalized. It includes additional Land Surveying, final Geological and Geotechnical studies and Detailed Design for the Project components (Dam and Waterways, Power stations, Access roads, Substations and Interconnection lines). The primary aim of this stage is the preparation of the detailed design of the hydro pumped energy storage project (consisting of final reports and drawings explaining a concrete technical design solution) which will constitute the final deliverables of the Action. The second part of the activity includes the preparation of the tender documents for works and supplies and consists of drafting the tender documents that will be used for the bidding procedure.

Funding Scheme

The Design and EIA of the PCI 3.24 – Hydro-pumped storage in Greece- Amfilochia is co-financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility – Energy. The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is a key EU instrument to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness through targeted infrastructure investment at European level. The CEF Energy finances projects which fill the missing links in Europe’s energy backbone and facilitating the use of renewable energy in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy. In addition the funding for energy networks will further integrate the internal energy market, reduce the EU’s energy dependency and bolster the security of supply.

The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) will manage all the EU-supported projects established under the CEF. Its mission is to support the Commission, project promoters and stakeholders by providing expertise and high quality of programme management.
Considering the scale of the project (PCI) and its estimated budget, the cost of the design implementation studies and environmental permitting is expected to reach 8 m€. The 50% of this cost will be covered by CEF funding whilst the remaining 50% will be covered by own capital.