Electricity trading on the Montenegrin market from April 26

Electricity trading on the Montenegrin market will begin on April 26, announced the director of the state-owned electricity exchange company (BELEN), Matija Medojević.

In an interview with Vijest, he said that, apart from the state energy companies Elektroprivreda (EPCG) and the Montenegrin Electric Distribution System (CEDIS), leading regional and European names from that economic segment will be present on the Montenegrin market, such as the Italian ENEL, Elektroprivreda Srbije, Croatian HEP, Slovenian HSE and GENi, EFT Montenegro, which is part of the EFT Group, and Danska Commodities.

So far, 12 members are registered on the electricity exchange in Montenegro, with three more in the process of joining, while 73 companies are registered with the Montenegrin operator of the electricity market (COTEE), – Medojević said.

He added that there Is an expressed interest of producers of all ranks of renewable energy sources (RES) in going public, which is completely understandable, bearing in mind that the state of the market is such that the price per megawatt-hour (MWh) is paid even twice more than the incentive tariffs used to amount to.

Connecting with neighboring markets is our next goal, but also an obligation, which in practice should mean that Montenegro will become an equal participant in a larger and more liquid electricity market, where due to greater supply and demand, an even better price will be achieved. This is particularly important from the point of view of EPCG as the largest state-owned company, considering that in addition to potentially better prices for both purchase and sale, certain savings will also be achieved when it comes to export costs compared to the sale of electricity via foreign markets. – said Medojević.

He explained that the Electricity Exchange was established in 2017 as a limited liability company, owned by EPCG, CEDIS and COTEE. The goal of BELEN, where from 2020 procurement of losses on the distribution and transmission network (long-term market) is carried out, is to be the main link in the establishment of a functional and operational “day ahead” market, which will encourage transparency and competitiveness when it comes to electricity trade.

Medojević explained that these processes will facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources into the network in the future, and take the first step towards fulfilling all technical and legal obligations of Montenegro for the planned participation in the single European energy market, which can be expected when it becomes a full member of the EU.

Since in the last two years the activities on the establishment of the market have intensified, we can announce with pleasure that Montenegro will finally take that first step in entering the European market, and also fulfill one of the main recommendations within the negotiation chapter 15 for the current year – said Medojevic.

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