TPP Pljevlja (photo: EPCG)
Montenegro’s state-owned power utility, Elektroprivreda Crne Gore, posted a EUR 24.5 million loss in the first half of 2025, a 620% increase compared to the same period last year.
The main reasons for the poor results were a production halt at the Pljevlja coal power plant and a wide gap between the purchase price of imported electricity and the selling price for consumers connected to the distribution network, according to Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG).
EPCG’s total revenue in the first half of 2025 amounted to EUR 208.1 million, while total expenses reached EUR 234.7 million.
The operating result was a EUR 24.5 million loss, which is EUR 21 million more than in the first half of 2024, when the loss was EUR 3.5 million. This represents a 620% increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to EPCG’s half-year report.
Total electricity production was nearly 25% lower year-on-year
A significant factor affecting the business result was the halt in production at the Pljevlja thermal power plant from March 31 this year due to final works on environmental reconstruction and the regular annual overhaul. As a result, the plant’s utilization rate for the first six months was only 48.8%.
In the first half of 2025, TPP Pljevlja produced nearly 400 GWh of electricity, 7.9 GWh or 2.02% above the plan, but almost 18%, or around 87 GWh, less than in the same period in 2024.
The total output at hydropower plants – Piva, Perućica, and small hydropower plants (SHP) – was 658 GWh, which is 22% or 159 GWh less than in 2024.
The company spent EUR 35.8 million more on electricity imports
The total output of all power plants was 1,058 GWh, or 78.8% of the plan, according to the report. This also represents a decrease of 26%, or 278 GWh.
During the first half of 2025, EPCG imported 656 GWh of electricity for EUR 62.4 million. The average price was EUR 95.09 per MWh. In the same period last year, imports totaled 430.3 GWh, at an estimated cost of EUR 26.6 million, according to the report. This marked a 52% increase in the volume of imports.
The company has received consent to borrow EUR 50 million to finance electricity imports.
The report underlined that the price charged to consumers on the distribution grid is significantly lower than the purchase price of imported electricity. The gap has a major negative impact on EPCG’s results, the company noted.
Electricity is imported at above EUR 100 per MWh and supplied to distribution consumers at an average price of around EUR 45 per MWh, according to the report.
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