EPCG to start reconstruction of TPP Pljevlja by end of April

Montenegro’s state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG), has finished all the preparations for the ecological reconstruction of the Pljevlja thermal power plant and announced the official start for the end of April.

Although the preparations for the ecological reconstruction of TPP Pljevlja officially started in January 2018, at one point, it was uncertain whether the thermal power plant would be modernized and its lifespan extended or it would stop production. The EUR 54 million contract for the reconstruction was signed in June 2020 with the consortium DEC International-Bemax-BB Solar-Permonte.

Works on the ecological reconstruction of TPP Pljevlja will begin on April 11. The official start will be on April 27, said Nikola Rovčanin, the executive director of EPCG, the Mina agency reported.

Rovčanin explained that the contract for the ecological reconstruction had been changed, which would cost the company an additional EUR 15 million.

EPCG will have to pay EUR 15 million more for the reconstruction

Rovčanin said that TPP Pljevlja spent the allowed 20,000 operating hours from the opt-out regime envisaged by the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD). Hence, the Energy Community Secretariat initiated an infringement procedure against Montenegro.

EPCG expects a positive outcome since it has taken all possible measures and steps in terms of environmental reconstruction and meeting EU standards for nitrogen and sulfur oxides emissions, as well as particulate matter, Rovčanin said at a roundtable on the implications of EU policies and market developments to Montenegro, organized by the NGO Eco-team.

TPP Pljevlja is one of the five coal power plants in the region under the opt-out mechanism

Of note, BiH, Montenegro, and Serbia, as Energy Community contracting parties, have accepted the opt-out mechanism to meet their obligation to apply the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD), which aims to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The mechanism provides an additional period for thermal power plant operators to modernize their facilities according to EU standards or prepare for their shutdown.

TPP Pljevlja, one of the five power plants under the opt-out mechanism in the region, used up its 20,000 operating hours in late 2020. By then, it was not modernized, so it had to be closed, but that did not happen. TPP Pljevlja provides 40% of Montenegro’s electricity production, so its closure would endanger the country’s security of supply.