Montenegrin state-owned power utility EPCG said that it is not considering electricity restrictions or raising the price of electricity for households, despite the fact that electricity is supplied to commercial and residential consumers five times cheaper than the market price.
EPCG is currently operating rationally and in order to maintain a stable supply to households and the industry, without additional financial losses.
Montenegro is entering a period when it should not buy electricity under normal hydrological conditions. However, extreme drought in combination with the accident at TPP Pljevlja may jeopardize the company’s liquidity, due to large imports, but these are really hard-to-imagine scenarios, said the company.
Two large hydropower plants operated by EPCG – Piva and Perucica produced a total of 1,438 GWh of electricity in the first nine months of 2021, which is 23 % above planned production for the period. However, the accumulations hold enough water to produce additional 220 GWh, which is 36 % less than planned.
On the other hand, coal-fired thermal power plant Pljevlja produced 875 GWh of electricity in the same period, which is 15 % below plan, due to several outages caused by minor technical issues.
EPCG plans to import a total of 700 GWh of electricity in 2021, which is 34 % less than last year, but 64 % more expensive due to increased electricity prices in the second half of the year.
