The Montenegrin Electric Transmission System (CGES) ended last year with a net profit of EUR 21.4 million, of which, in accordance with the law, approximately EUR 15 million will be returned in the following years through corrections to end users, i.e. electricity consumers.
The President of the Board of Directors of that company, Aleksandar Mijušković, said that last year’s result of the company was a record, i.e. 27 percent higher than in 2021.
“Not only our owners will benefit from this profit, but also all consumers, because we are a regulated activity controlled by the Regulatory Agency for Energy and Law.” So we will return about two-thirds of this profit, which amounts to about 15 million, to the end users in the coming years through corrections, i.e. through a reduction in the transmission tariff,” said Mijušković in an interview with the Mina-business agency.
He added that a significant increase in income from the allocation of cross-border capacities was recorded, noting that there was no increase in the price of electricity, among other things, due to the reduction of the transmission tariff and the good performance of CGES.
Mijušković explained that the shareholders of Electric Transmission System – the state of Montenegro, the Italian Terna and Elektromreža Srbije – are satisfied with this way of doing business, as well as with the results achieved in cooperation with them and with the immeasurable contribution of employees.
Speaking about the most significant projects that were implemented in the last year, Mijušković announced that, since he became the president of the Board of Directors, he has advocated for the completion of the 400 kilovolt (kV) transmission line project from Lastva to Pljevlja.
“It is an extremely complex and difficult project to build, because we have many obstacles, primarily property and legal relations. However, we are working on it and I believe that we will finish it by the end of the year”, added Mijušković, reminding that it is part of a large project, the Trans-Balkan Corridor, which stretches from Romania through Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Montenegro and beyond. To Italy.
He said that he hopes that this will be the trigger for the second strand of the underwater cable towards Italy.
“In the meantime, we completed part of the connection of the substation Lastva, to which the cable was attached, by making a new transmission line from our substation “Podgorica 2” to Čevo and going down to Lastva. The transmission line from Lastva continues towards Trebinje, which has increased the safety of the cable supply,” explained Mijušković.
Also, CGES completed the construction of a 400 kilovolt transmission line towards Pljevlje, with a length of about 100 kilometers, which improved the operation of the system and relieved it in the part of Nikšić and the one related to the hydroelectric power plant (HE) “Perućica”.
Mijušković also highlighted the implementation of projects related to the restoration and reconstruction of high-voltage equipment, for which they received a grant from the European Union (EU).
When it comes to the benefits of the energy cable between Montenegro and Italy, Mijušković specified that the total revenues from the allocation of cross-border capacities since its commissioning amount to around EUR 72 million, and that last year alone they were over EUR 40 million.
“For the sake of comparison, in 2009, while the cable was not in operation, our income from the sale of cross-border capacities amounted to four million, so that in the last year alone we had ten times more income from the cable,” announced Mijušković.
He assessed that It was a good project and praised the cooperation with the Italian transmission system operator Terna.
“The cable itself is also a connection to the European market, it enables the development of infrastructure and production units in the entire region. Everyone is leaning on that cable and we have become a real European hub,” said Mijušković.
Speaking about the projects that CGES plans to implement this year, Mijušković said that they are continuing with business and that they are trying to do the best they can.
“EUR 195 million will be invested in the next five years,” announced Mijušković.
CGES will invest in the network and in smart grid projects, as well as in improving the infrastructure.
He also reminded that the company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Albanian transmission system operator, regarding the power supply of Ulcinj, which is the only city that is not connected from two directions.
“At that meeting, we agreed to connect Ulcinj with Velipoj with one 110 kilovolt transmission line. “I think it’s a good opportunity to ensure good power supply in Ulcinj, among other things because of the tourist season,” explained Mijušković.
Also, this year, the completion of the transmission line from Lastva to Pljevlja and the commissioning of the 110/35 kV substation “Žabljak” are expected.
“We are also in the final phase of purchasing two substations for the highway – Mrke and Mateševo. It is a project worth 17 million and we expect its finalization by signing a loan agreement with one of the banks,” concluded Mijušković.
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