Italian energy company Terna announced that submarine DC cable connecting electricity systems of Italy and Montenegro should be put into operation by the end of 2019.
CEO of Terna Luigi Ferraris said that the cable will have a transfer capacity of 600 MW instead of 1,000 MW as it was initially planned. He stressed that the project will increase the role of Italy in the Balkan and Mediterranean electricity systems, boost cross-border exchange capacity and facilitate the gradual integration of the markets in the region.
In early 2017, Terna announced that the laying of the entire submarine DC cable between Montenegro and Italy, namely between the Balkans and the European Union, has been completed. The total length of the cable between Pescara in Italy and cape Jaz in Montenegro is 455 kilometers, of which 433 kilometers are underwater. Terna started the laying of 136 kilometers of the cable from the Italian coast in the beginning of 2015, while the laying of 157 kilometers of cable from the Montenegrin side has been completed in December 2016.
In November 2010, Montenegro has signed the contract on the implementation of project for linking electricity grids of Montenegro and Italy with the submarine DC cable. The value of the project is estimated to one billion euros, while Montenegro will invest some 100 million euros. Montenegro should be entitled to 20% of the capacity and transit fees from the future cable. It is planned to connect to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from Montenegro. According to the agreement, the obligation of Montenegrin electricity transmission system operator CGES, in which Terna has 22 % stake, is to build 440 kV transmission line between the Adriatic coast (substation in Lastva Grbaljska) and Pljevlja.
