The link would be built between Italy and Montenegro, and be the first undersea cable linking Italy with former-Yugoslavian territory. Montenegro is applying to become a European Union (EU) member state and is already a member of the Energy Community, which extends EU energy laws to the Balkans and non-EU countries to the east and north.
The EBRD has now unveiled plans for a syndicated loan of €65 million to Montenegrin electricity transmission operator Crnogorski Elektroprenosni Sistem (CGES), to upgrade Montenegro’s power network so that it can efficiently trade power with Italy, utilising the planned €760 million international link, which is scheduled for completion by 2015.
The project would involve building a new 400/110/35 kV substation at Lastva on the Adriatic coast, which is where the planned sub-sea cable would come ashore. It would also strengthen existing electricity networks around Lastva and fund a new 155km 400kV line northwards to the town of Pljevlja.
An EBRD project document said: “The investment directly supports the development of the regional electricity market in southeast Europe by putting in place the infrastructure that will allow electricity trade between the region and Italy.”
By Keith Nuthall