Tavronitis: 12-month extension on 267m euro dam

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has approved a twelve-month extension to the technical adviser’s contract for the public-private partnership project of the Tavronitis dams, with a total budget of 267 million euros. The project concerns the construction of the Derianos and Semproniotis dams and of the tunnel connecting them, in the regional unit of Chania. The tender began in November 2022 and to date only Phase A has been completed, that is the approval of the list of pre-selected candidates. The new deadline for the technical adviser extends to 23 July 2027. The technical adviser supports the contracting authority at every stage of the tender procedure.

The critical point for what follows is the approval of the environmental terms, which is a precondition for the submission of binding offers at the next stage of the tender. The partnership is expected to have a total duration of thirty years, of which four concern construction and the remaining twenty-six the operation and maintenance of the facilities by the private partner. The beneficiaries are the municipalities of Platanias and Kissamos, for both irrigation and water supply, while the project also includes flood protection for the Tavronitis basin. In PPP projects the private partner takes on the financing and the construction and is repaid through availability payments from the state during the operating period, a model that shifts part of the construction risk onto the contractor.

The mayor of Platanias, Giannis Malandrakis, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, asking for a binding timetable for the completion of the tender procedure. The municipality has been pressing for the project for more than fifteen years, with the issue returning every summer when demand for water peaks because of tourist traffic and irrigation needs. The details of the extension and the mayor’s letter are posted on the Diavgeia transparency portal and can be checked by anyone interested. Delay in environmental licensing is the most common reason for timetables slipping in large hydraulic works.

The question of water supply has become central for the whole of Crete in recent times. In the eastern part of the island, a fault at the Aposelemis treatment plant had caused alarm over the water supply of Agios Nikolaos, with restoration proceeding gradually. In Chania, the existing storage works are considered inadequate to cover the needs of the western municipalities in dry years. More from the area on the Platanias page. The dams are expected to cover both irrigation and drinking water needs, in an area where demand doubles during the summer months. The matter is expected to return to the Platanias municipal council, while the municipality has requested an update on the timetable of Phase B of the tender.