The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a sovereign-guaranteed loan of up to 28 million euros to Montenegro’s electricity transmission system operator CGES for the upgrade of the Brezna electrical substation.
-The project is highly significant as it will allow the integration of 400 MW of renewable energy into the national grid, helping the country decarbonise its economy. Moreover, it will reduce transmission losses by 13 GWh/year and secure a safe and reliable electricity supply in Montenegro as well as in the region by further strengthening the Trans-Balkan corridor which connects countries in the region to Italy and the EU – the EBRD said in a statement last week.
The project involves the installation of two power transformers and connecting them to the national grid via the new Lastva-Pljevlja transmission line. This will raise Brezna’s capacity to 400/110 kV, meaning that a large number of renewable energy power plants, that are now under development, can be connected with the substation, the statement read.
The Brezna substation is an important part of Montenegro’s transmission system as it connects the 400 kV Cevo-Pljevlja 2 transmission line with existing power grid to form a 400 kV ring. It also lays the groundwork for a prospective power link to Sarajevo, in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is an initiative in a preliminary planning stage, supported by the EBRD.
As part of the Brezna project, the EBRD and the European Union will provide capacity-building opportunities and create guidelines so that the regulators and other key local stakeholders can work effectively with CGES in making Montenegro’s electricity market a level playing field for renewable energy, according to the statement.
The EU is also providing a technical assistance grant of 1.05 million euros from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) to develop the feasibility study, an environmental and social impact assessment and the preliminary design.
