The Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović and the Chief Executive Officer of the Italian energy company "Terna" Mateo Del Fante marked the beginning of the laying of the first Montenegrin section of the undersea power cable that connects Montenegro today on Cape Ponta near the Jaz beach in Donji Grblje with a symbolic ribbon cutting. with Italy.
The cable installation project, which is intended to transfer cheap electricity from Montenegro and the countries of the Western Balkans to Italy, is worth almost one billion euros, and is being carried out in cooperation with "Terna" and the Montenegrin electricity transmission system CGES.
A cable with a maximum capacity of 1.000 megawatts of direct current is being laid at the bottom of the Adriatic Sea between Peskara in Italy and Lastva Grbaljska in Montenegro, where a mammoth transformer plant will soon be installed, which should convert alternating current from Montenegrin and Balkan power plants into direct current before sending it. cable to Italy.
"This striking energy bridge is a convincing illustration of the EU's effective enlargement policy to the Western Balkans, and at the same time a confirmation of the determination of the countries of the region to base their future development on respecting the highest European standards. With it, Montenegro essentially becomes the energy link of the Western Balkans with the EU," said Đukanović. stressing that 136 out of a total of 455 kilometers of cable length have already been installed from the Italian coast to Montenegro.
He added that CGES is building the 400 kV Lastva-Čevo-Pljevlja transmission line and the "Lastva" substation, and laying six kilometers of cable by burying it in the ground from Lastva to Cape Ponta, where the cable enters the sea, as well as the submarine part until the cable exits from Montenegrin territorial waters. .
The rest of the work is done by the Italians, who will receive 2018 percent of the revenue generated by the future energy connection, which should be completed by the end of 80.
"In just a few years, from the initial idea, through the ratified international agreement between Montenegro and Italy, this project was accepted as a strategic interest not only of our two countries, but also of the Western Balkans and the EU. Additional importance is provided by its role as a generator of accelerated energy development in the region, which traces a new energy path - the Trans-Balkan Corridor. In it, the interests of the energy community, as well as the countries of the Western Balkans, are intertwined. This is also confirmed by the fact that the EU, through the Western Balkan Investment Framework, supported this project with a 25 million euro grant intended for the construction of a 400-kilovolt of the Pljevlja - Bajina Bašta interconnection," said Đukanović, who was waited for more than an hour by numerous dignitaries from the spheres of politics, diplomacy and business, gathered at the ceremony.
Among others, the ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Italy to Montenegro, Vicenco del Monaco, Deputy Prime Minister Vujica Lazović, Minister of Economy Vladimir Kavarić, Director of CGES Dragan Laketić and several mayors from the coast.
Đukanović emphasized that the cable will result in numerous benefits for Montenegro, from the employment of over 30 companies and 500 workers who are already working on the construction site in Donji Grblje, over dozens of workers and engineers who will maintain and manage the system from the Montenegrin side when it is completed .
"After the commissioning of the cable, significant income will be provided for Montenegro based on the share of CGES in the total capacity of the cable, 20% of the installed 1.000 megawatts. Income from the transmission of electricity from the region through this interconnection is a direct profit. It is no less important for the power the system of Montenegro nor the fact that it will be connected to the regional and European market. By creating an integrated market for electricity, and increasing competition, industry and citizens will be able to supply, based on lower wholesale energy prices," Đukanović pointed out, adding that the cable is significant and for the intensification of investments in the energy sector in Montenegro, where the contract for the construction of the second block of the "Pljevlja" thermal power plant was signed, the wind power plant at Krnovo is being completed, "and the interest in the hydro potentials of Morača and Komarnica is increasing".
"Connoisseurs of opportunities in this sector appreciate that the "undersea cable" represented a positive impulse to the recently completed large energy facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TE Stanari) and Albania (HE Banja). With the completion of these works, Montenegro will strengthen and modernize its transmission networks in coastal area, as well as in the northwestern part of the country. The first results are already visible. This will enable a much higher level of security and reliability of power supply for users, which is one of the key assumptions of current and future large investments in tourism," Đukanović pointed out.
Del Fante: The cable is already part of the infrastructure of interest to the EU
Emphasizing that the electrical connection cable to Montenegro is "an innovative structure important for environmental sustainability, very important for Italy and crucial for the integration of the Balkan region into Europe", Chief Executive Officer of "Terna" Matteo del Fante said that "Italy and "Terna" are fulfilling their promises and today we are in a situation to lay a section of the cable on the Montenegrin coast".
"This infrastructure is strategically important for Montenegro, Italy, but also for Europe, as evidenced by numerous documents verified by the EU in the meantime. This project was also supported by the EBRD, and at the European level the Italy-Montenegro cable was officially declared a project of common interest for EU members and therefore has already formally become part of the European infrastructural systems. It is also concrete evidence that the EU is moving forward and that Montenegro, as a contact point on the Balkan side, will play a very important role in this project," said Del. Guys.
He pointed out that the works are progressing according to the planned dynamics and that of the total length of the cable, as many as 433 kilometers are laid under the sea, and the maximum depth to which the cable is lowered in the South Adriatic is as much as 1.200 meters.
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