The deadline for amendments to the Spatial-Urban Plan (PUP) for the municipality of Ulcinj expired on January 12, and this document, which is a key prerequisite for the start of the construction of the solar power plant (SE) on Briska Gora, was not adopted.
The preparation of this document is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Spatial Planning, which is headed by Ana Novaković Đurović, while the head of the PUP drafting team is Ksenija Vukmanović. The contract with the team manager was signed on January 12, 2022.
In the preparation of this document, as the relevant ministry said, a draft was reached on which a negative opinion was given.
– The draft plan received a negative opinion and a significant number of objections from the Audit Council and a number of relevant institutions (the Montenegrin electricity distribution system, the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Ulcinj, the Nature Directorate.. .) – said the Ministry of Spatial Planning.
So far, there is no tentative date by which this planning document could be adopted.
At its meeting on January 20 of this year, the government decided to increase the amount of compensation for the manager and expert team for the preparation of this planning document from EUR 50,000 to EUR 80,000.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning reminds that the aim of making amendments to the PUP is to create spatial and planning preconditions for the realization of the Contract on Lease of State-owned land for the construction of a solar power plant, as well as that through the preparation of amendments to the PUP it is necessary to create planning preconditions for solving key development problems in the field of infrastructure, with special emphasis on traffic and communal equipment, controlled tourist development, planned treatment of informal facilities…
Electricity from Briska Gora was supposed to start at the end of 2021, and authorities from several governments are responsible for the fact that the PUP has not been done yet.
Incomplete spatial planning documentation is the key reason for the delay in the investment that should be realized by the consortium consisting of Elektroprivreda (EPCG), Fortum and Sterling&Wilson.
The contract for the lease of land for the construction of SE on Briska gora between the Government and the company’s consortium was signed at the end of 2018. According to earlier announcements by EPCG, it was planned that the realization of the investment would start in 2020 , and production at the end of 2021, which did not happen. To date, the contract has been annexed five times and, according to the last annex from April this year, the deadline for the beginning of the land lease was moved to December 31 of this year.
The construction of SE is planned in two phases, the first includes the construction and connection of a 50 MW solar power plant with accompanying infrastructure and its connection to the system and expected annual production of around 90 GWh, while the second includes the construction of an additional 200 MW with accompanying infrastructure and connection to the system, expected annual production of about 360 GWh.
– In the presented program of the Government, the construction project of SE Briska gora is recognized as a priority and it should be expected that the spatial planning prerequisites, i.e. the preparation of the spatial planning document by the aforementioned planning team under the jurisdiction of Minister Ana Novaković Đurović, will be created even before the stipulated deadline of 12 months , because the adoption of the spatial plan and confirmation of the connection is a prerequisite for the further implementation of project activities and the final start of the construction of SE Briska bor – it was officially told to the News in EPCG in September of last year.
In the latest report on the state of the energy sector for 2021, the Energy Regulatory Agency warned that activities on the implementation of that project must be accelerated.
– At its session on November 17, 2021, the government made a decision on the drafting of amendments to the PUP of the municipality of Ulcinj, Article 4 of which stipulates that the deadline for drafting this act is 12 months from the date of signing the contract with the manager of the planning document (12 January 2023). The current dynamics of the activities carried out on this project, while appreciating the aforementioned decision of the Government and the absence of investment on this basis by EPCG in 2021, indicates the need to intensify activities on the realization of this project. This is in order not to endanger the closing of the electricity balance planned by the long-term energy balance for the period 2023-2025, which foresees the commissioning of the first phase of SE Briska gora – warned the Agency.
The Investment is worth about EUR 210 million, of which the value of the first phase is about EUR 46 million, and it is planned to employ at least 226 workers.
In the consortium that is to build SE on Briska gora, the ownership structure is as follows: Fortum 49%, EPCG 49% and S&W two percent.
The contract defines the rent in the amount of 0.33 cents per square meter, i.e. a total of 966,980 euros for the land for the first phase and 1,217,989 euros for the land for the second phase.
At the session of January 24, 2022, the Government tasked the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Urbanism with speeding up the preparation of planning documents for the construction of the power plant at the Briska gora site.
17,500 euros have been paid to the manager and professional team so far
The news asked the Ministry of Spatial Planning for an explanation as to why the amount of compensation for the manager and expert team was increased.
– After reviewing the problems related to the preparation of this planning document and the need for additional correction of the valid planning solution, re-examination of the urban planning parameters for certain zones, detailed elaborations, it was estimated that it is necessary to change the decision in relation to the increase of financial resources, to a total of 80,000 EUR. – they said in the Ministry.
As they added in the process of creating an analysis and assessment of the existing situation, the draft plan, the received initiatives of interested users of the space, the opinions of competent institutions, it was found necessary to make significant additions to the planning document, which will also contain detailed elaborations for certain localities.
– So far, EUR 17,500 has been paid to the construction manager and the expert team (the construction manager and nine members of the expert team), the Ministry said.
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