EPCG, a utility and distribution network operator (DNO) in the Southeast European country of Montenegro, is looking to add 300MW of BESS to its grid.
EPCG, the Electric Power Company of Montenegro, will launch a public tender for the procurement of 300MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) technology before the end of the year, said Milutin Đukanović, chairman of the board of directors.
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Đukanović announced the news in an address at an energy industry event last week (13 December) in Belgrade, neighbouring Serbia, called’ A new era of energy: Where are regional power companies today – plans for the future’, hosted by the country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Đukanović said the move has the full backing of the government of Montenegro, EPCG’s owner, and is part of the utility’s push towards green energy. The utility is deploying solar and looking to better utilise existing hydropower capacity to integrate that, its first two pillars of decarbonisation, with BESS the third pilar.
Energy storage in the wider Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region that Montenegro sits within was a focus of Solar Media’s recent Energy Storage Summit CEE, held in Warsaw, Poland in September.
Other countries in CEE such as Poland, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria have used EU funds to launch procurements of BESS capacity and kickstart the market, although as Montenegro is not a member state it will need to look elsewhere for any financial support.
