Earthworks on the environmental reconstruction of the Thermal Power Plant (TE) Pljevlja will begin on April 11, and the official work on April 27, announced the executive director of the Electric Power Company (EPCG), Nikola Rovčanin.
He said that the previous contract on ecological reconstruction was revised, supplemented and harmonized, which cost them an additional 15 million euros, and that the contractor was selected.
"TE has spent working hours and a procedure has been initiated by the European Energy Community. We expect a positive outcome, because we have taken all possible measures and steps in terms of ecological reconstruction and meeting the EU standards when it comes to nitrogen, sulfur and powdery substances and the efficiency of operation of the thermal power plant above 30 percent," said Rovčanin at the round table on the implications of EU policies. and challenges on the energy market to the electrical and energy system of Montenegro, which was organized by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Eko-team.
Rovčanin stated that EPCG is working on the development of another important project, that is, the heating of Pljevlja.
"We have provided money in the budget of EPCG for the first phase, in the amount of two million euros, and that project will start in the same period, while I expect the tender for the execution of the works to be announced soon, which will start in May or June," specified Rovčanin.
He said that EPCG was faced with the fact that it came to the position of fulfilling certain obligations completely unprepared, bearing in mind that since 1982, not a single building in their ownership has been built.
"The need for a quick transition is our obligation and we wanted to launch a large investment cycle with the ambition of diversifying electricity production, which would lead to an increase in production from renewable energy sources (RES)," said Rovčanin.
He stated that the company is trying to influence citizens' awareness and reminded that they launched the Solari 3000+ and 500+ project.
"How good the project is is shown by the fact that 14 households applied for it, and there is an intention to launch the 5000+ project soon," announced Rovčanin.
He said that it is important to preserve energy independence and to work on projects to increase the participation of green energy in production.
"It was difficult to maintain electrical energy stability and I am proud that EPCG, the system itself, citizens, users and investments did not feel the heavy burdens of this crisis. We managed to preserve the discounts and continue the investment cycle, and I hope that in the coming years we will have new facilities from RES", said Rovčanin.
He believes that household production is something that in the future will place Montenegro among the countries dedicated to the development of green energy.
State Secretary in the Ministry of Capital Investments, Marko Perunović, said that 40 to 50 percent of the total production is provided by the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant.
"We are condemned to her and we are still looking for a way to extend her lifespan," said Perunović.
He added that they are aware of all the obligations they have, while they found a catastrophic situation in the energy system, starting with TE.
"We worked hard on the revision of tenders from the previous system. We had to put the second part through the procedure. A contractor has been selected and we hope that in the second half of April, the ecological reconstruction of the thermal power plant will begin to be implemented," Perunović said, adding that it cannot function without it.
As he said, the state has accepted obligations related to the green agenda, in all contracts it has with EU bodies.
"We are also faced with a huge energy crisis that has escalated since the conflict in Ukraine. Our great luck is that we were not a dependent country in terms of energy. "We are from oil derivatives and we see the repercussions," said Perunović.
He stated that the production of electricity alone keeps the country on relatively solid footing.
According to him, the extension of the contract with the company Energean, which should enter into the process of exploratory drilling for gas in the Montenegrin sea, is significant.
"This would ensure that we become an energy-independent country," added Perunović.
He said that the focus of the Ministry and EPCG management should be on new projects related to the RES project.
"It depends on our teamwork how successful we will be in this. "Energy is perhaps the key to Montenegro's survival," Perunović said.
Answering a journalist's question about the prices of oil derivatives, he said that the current market in the world is very unpredictable.
"The changes in the stock markets are incredible. "Given that we don't have our own production or reserves, we are doomed to depend on the movements of the world stock markets," explained Perunović.
He stated that it was proposed to reduce the excise tax by up to 40 percent, but that he did not know when that proposal would be adopted in the Assembly.
"It is difficult to predict what will happen, but I think we are in a more stable situation on the stock markets," Perunović added.
The project manager at Eco-team, Diana Milev Čavor, said that the EU has defined specific goals in terms of climate policies, which is legally binding, while on the other hand, it has not neglected the Western Balkans region either.
As she reminded, the EU has prepared a green agenda for the Western Balkans, with which Montenegro has committed itself to follow the ambitions of the EU in terms of climate policies.
"We cannot ignore the current impact of the energy crisis and all that it means. The current Russian invasion of Ukraine has deepened it even more," said Milev Čavor.
This, as she said, led many electricity producers to put plants, ie coal-fired thermal power plants that were out of operation, back into operation. According to her, there are even plans to extend the deadlines for shutting down coal-fired thermal power plants.
"The current context should also be included here. The EU made a decision to reduce its dependence on Russian energy sources by two-thirds by the end of the year, and to become completely independent by 2030," said Milev Čavor.
She said that there is a clear path, which is to invest in RES.
The Director of the Directorate for Ecology in the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Dušan Bugarin, said that Montenegro, as a candidate country for EU membership, follows the EU climate policy, so it has undertaken to share the green agenda for the Western Balkans and be climate neutral by 2050. years.
"Additional investments are planned, and the way energy is used in the domestic and public sector must be adjusted to match the prospects for a gradual transition to development models that include low CO2 emissions," said Bugarin.
He stated that additional support for energy efficiency measures is the installation of facades and joinery in households and public institutions that will be implemented by the Eco Fund.
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