WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

4.3.7 Montenegro
Pascal Hauser and Lara Esser, International Center on
Small Hydro Power
Key facts
Population 645,000
Area 13,812 km 2
Climate Prevalently Mediterranean climate, hot
dry summers and autumns and
relatively cold winters with heavy
snowfalls inland 1
Topography Highly indented coastline with narrow
coastal plain backed by rugged high
limestone mountains and plateaus 1
Rain
Pattern
Annual average rainfall is 2,000 mm,
locally up to 5,500 mm, with a
maximum of 8,500 mm. 2
Electricity sector overview
The Kosovo conflict in 1999 severely damaged the
infrastructure in Montenegro. The energy generation
depends almost entirely on hydropower and lignite
resources. Energy efficiency is an issue especially with
regard to heating based on electricity. 3 4
Emergency grants are in place to help rebuild the
damaged systems, focusing in the short- and mediumterm
on the reconstruction of electricity
infrastructure. Therefore, renewable energy
development will have a lower priority for now,
except for the reconstruction of damaged hydropower
facilities. There are currently no feed-in tariffs for
renewable energy. 3
In 2011, a total of 2,679 GWh electricity was produced
nationally with 1,050 GWh imported. Hydropower
dominates the electricity mix (figure 1). The electricity
market was opened in 2009 for all sectors except
households. It will be opened for households in 2015. 5
Thermal
Hydro
34.29%
65.71%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Figure 1 Electricity generation in Montenegro
Source: Elektroprivreda Crne Gore 6
Small hydropower sector overview and potential
So far only about 17 per cent of Montenegro’s total
hydropower potential has been utilized, mostly in
larger power plants. Aware of the situation, the
country’s Ministry of Economy promotes utilization of
hydropower through issuing concessions for
hydropower plants. 7 In 2011, 15 companies expressed
interest in developing Montenegro’s small
hydropower potential. 8
SHP installed
capacity
SHP potential
9 MW
240 MW
0 80 160 240 320
Figure 2 Small hydropower capacities in Montenegro
The installed capacity of the seven existing small
hydropower plants amounts to 8.92 MW with an
average annual production of about 21.4 GWh. The
remaining technical hydropower potential of small
hydropower plants (excluding the rivers of Tara,
Cehotina and Ibar) is estimated at 231 MW and
644 GWh/year, in 70 locations. 9
Montenegro has a Clean Development Mechanism
project that includes the construction of small
hydropower plant Otilovici. It uses the excess flow of
water from an existing accumulation, in a way that
does not change the water regime or the river flow
downstream. The construction is scheduled for June
2012 with inauguration in June 2014. The planned
electricity production of this is 11.52 GWh. 10
Renewable energy policy
Montenegro does not have an official renewable
target for 2020 and is highly dependent on electricity
imports. Fortunately it has significant potential in local
renewable energy sources to reduce this
dependence 11 . The Energy Development Strategy of
Montenegro has a goal to have at least 20 per cent of
renewable energy sources in primary energy
consumption by 2025, in accordance with the
objectives set by the European Commission. 7 The new
Energy Act (passed in April 2010) provides incentives
for using renewable energy sources and encourages
cogeneration.
Legislation on small hydropower
A Small Hydro Development Strategy was adopted in
2006 as part of the energy sector reform. 5
The Montenegrin Energy Law (Article 32) states that
electricity producers operating power plants with an
installed capacity of up to 10 MW based on renewable
resources, have the right to sell the electricity
generated to the distribution network at a price that is
calculated with the methodology adopted by the
Ministry of Economy.
The Ministry of Economic issued Guidelines for
defining the calculation methodology for purchase
price for electricity from small hydropower plants
(based on the decision 08/1031-1 02.06.2008). The
small hydropower production may reach up to 3.5 per
cent to cover the annual balance needed for
electricity, in accordance with the strategy for
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