Litostroj, ABB to modernize HPP Piva

Power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) and a consortium of Slovenia’s Litostroj and Italy’s ABB JV have signed a contract on a EUR 10.3 million reconstruction and modernization of the Piva hydropower plant (HPP), the Montenegrin company said.

The contract, which will be financed by German development bank KfW with EUR 8.5 million and from EPCG’s own sources, was inked by Igor Noveljić, CEO of EPCG, Damjan Kolenko, chief of integration at Litostroj, and Danilo Moresco, general manager at ABB.

Noveljić said that alongside the reconstruction of various facilities at all three units of HPP Piva, a state-of-the-art distributed control system will be installed to enable remote management by the supervisory management center.

In addition to extending the plant’s operating life by another 40 years, EPCG will ensure its high operational readiness, Noveljić said, adding that by providing auxiliary and system services for Montenegro’s electricity system, the company secures additional income, which in the last two years reached more than EUR 2 million.

The revitalization of HPP Piva is included in the Energy Sector Development Strategy until 2030 as one of the projects aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of generation, transmission, and distribution facilities.

The signing and contracting of another major project, the second phase of a EUR 30 million reconstruction and modernization of HPP Perućica, is also expected soon. This is envisagedunder EPCG’s strategy and a five-year investment cycle worth more than EUR 170 million.

At the beginning of May, the EPCG Board of Directors approved the EUR 2.7 million overhaul of the HPP Piva unit 2, expected in 2018 and 2019, the EUR 3.5 million revitalization of the HPP Perućica unit 6, and the launch of tendering for the purchase of a transformer worth EUR 2.75 million.