State-controlled power transmission system operator Crnogorski elektroprenosni sistem (CGES) will cover the cost for a cross-border power transmission capacity with half of the EUR 50 million in European Union funds recently secured by the government in Podgorica, SeeNews reported. Funds secured at the recent Western Balkans Summit in Vienna will be earmarked for the construction of a transmission line connecting Montenegro with Serbia and Bosnia, a project being implemented by the company.
The Montengrin section of the 400 kV transmission line, set to connect the country’s power grid with Serbia’s at Bajina Bašta and with Bosnia’s at Višegrad, was intended to be financed through an increase in electricity prices, but will now be covered by the EU funds, news broadcaster RTCG reported, quoting finance minister Vladimir Kavarić. Construction is set for 2017. The line between the three countries will continue towards Italy via an undersea cable. In April, CGES and its Serbian and Bosnian counterparts, Elektromreže Srbije (EMS) and NOS BiH, signed an agreement to set up a Security Coordination Center with a goal to develop the necessary services prescribed by European network rules and by the internal regulations of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.
Montenegro will receive EUR 45 million of EU grants for the advancement of rail transport and electric transmission, prime minister Milo Đukanović told the press following the summit held on August 27. „A year ago we came up with the idea of EU assistance in developing the infrastructure of the Western Balkans, and we have this year’s programme in which Montenegro participates with 45 million of grant funds for projects in the areas of electric transmission and railway transport.“
