Montenegro and Italy are advancing preparations for the integration of their wholesale electricity markets, although regulatory requirements mean coordinated trading is unlikely to begin in the near term.
Montenegrin energy regulator REGAGEN estimates that the formal market-coupling procedure could take around 18 months once an application is submitted. However, Montenegro must first receive confirmation from the European Commission that its electricity legislation is aligned with EU requirements before the process can formally begin.
Montenegro requested an assessment of its regulatory framework in March 2026, with the Energy Community Secretariat forwarding its findings to Brussels in June. The European Commission’s assessment had not yet been confirmed at the time of the report.
The process could also require further amendments to Montenegro’s domestic legislation. In addition, the country must secure approval from EU energy regulator ACER for its market-integration plan before moving towards implementation.
Technical preparations are already under way. Regulators, transmission system operators and electricity market operators from Montenegro and Italy are holding meetings every two weeks to develop the procedures required for coordinated cross-border trading.
Transmission operators CGES and Terna are focusing in particular on methodologies for calculating and allocating available cross-border transmission capacity, a key element of any future market-coupling arrangement.
Montenegro and Italy are already physically linked through the Adriatic submarine electricity cable, providing the infrastructure needed for cross-border power exchanges. Market coupling would add coordinated capacity allocation and trading mechanisms, potentially improving interconnector utilisation, market liquidity and cross-border price efficiency.
The project therefore represents a further step towards integrating Montenegro into the wider European electricity market, but the regulatory and technical work still required means that commercially coordinated trading remains a longer-term prospect.
