The Montenegrin Government has decided to suspend activities on the preparation for the construction of Briska Gora solar power plant near Ulcinj.
Namely, previously adopted changes and amendments to the spatial and urban plan and on the long-term lease of state land for the construction of the future solar power plant, were put out of force by the current Government due to formal shortcomings.
The statement from the Government said that so far in Montenegro, a total of 23 small hydropower plant (SHPP) were built, as well as two wind farms – Krnovo and Mozura. The Government has unilaterally terminated nine concessions for the construction of SHPPs, with one mutually agreed termination, while another concessionaire is preparing for this option.
Also, the Government has awarded a concession for the construction of SHPP Otilovici to state- owned power utility EPCG. The concession is awarded for 30 years, the amount of compensation is 6.5 % of the realized annual electricity generation and it cannot be less than 5 % of the planned annual electricity generation.
In May 2020, Montenegrin Government drafted an amendment to the Spatial Plan of municipality of Ulcinj in relation to a long-term lease of the land in the Briska Gora location for the exploitation of solar energy and construction of solar power plant of installed capacity of up to 260 MW.
The agreement on the lease of state-owned land defines the construction of a solar plant in two phases – phase I of minimum installed capacity of 50 MW and phase II of a total planned installed capacity of over 200 MW. The land for the construction of the solar power plant has been leased to the consortium consisting of state-owned power utility EPCG, Finnish company Fortum and Sterling&Wilson.
