EPCG has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan’s PowerX setting an indicative target of about 500 MWh of battery energy storage systems over an initial three-year period. For Montenegro, the investment case centres on coordinating storage with hydro, solar generation and cross-border trading, rather than treating batteries as standalone arbitrage assets.
The targeted volume is material for Montenegro’s relatively small power system. Its 2026 energy balance envisaged planned solar generation of roughly 198 GWh, while planning expected solar capacity to reach around 215 MW as prosumer and utility projects expand.
EPCG owns flexible hydro resources that can shift large volumes of energy over longer periods. Reservoir operations, however, are constrained by hydrology and water management. Batteries would add a short-duration layer alongside hydro, not replace its longer-duration flexibility.
Storage can respond within seconds, absorb short solar surpluses and support intraday trading without changing water releases. Coordinating battery dispatch with hydro could preserve reservoir value for periods when longer-duration flexibility is more useful. That allows hydro and batteries to serve different time horizons within the same portfolio.
A battery could charge when Montenegro has surplus electricity or imported power is cheap, then discharge to meet domestic demand or during regional scarcity. The country trades across a power system connected to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and the Italy link, creating scope to coordinate storage with imports and exports.
Such coordination could help EPCG reduce imbalances in a portfolio combining weather-dependent solar generation and hydro inflows. The commercial model should assess storage across the whole portfolio, rather than as an isolated profit centre. The relevant investment measure is the incremental value to EPCG across hydro, solar, imports, exports and its balancing position. System-level benefits could support a stronger case than day-ahead arbitrage alone.
