Most of the owners of small hydroelectric power plants (SHP) announced unofficially to Pobjeda that they could soon exit the incentive system and go public, and three have already exited. They decide to take that step because they are dissatisfied with the purchase price of energy. Last year, they received an average of 97.25 euros per MWh, which was almost twice less than the market price.
Elektroprivreda (EPCG), as the only supplier, bought that electricity from the Montenegrin electricity market operator (COTEE) at a price of 85 euros per MWh, which saved 73 million euros in the first ten months alone. Currently, the average price on the reference exchange Hupx for January was 148.7 euros, and for the second half of February 157.88 euros per MWh. If the favored producer leaves the incentive system, it must be on the market for a minimum of 12 months.
COTEE announced to Pobjeda that the companies Hidroenergija, BB hidro and Viridi progresum left the market from the system of incentive measures. Beranska Hidroenergija has eight HPPs (Jezerštica, Bistrica, Orah, Rmus, Spalevići, Šekular, Jelovica 1 and Jelovica 2). The owners of the company are Ranko Radović and Oleg Obradović. Podgorička BB hydro is the owner of MHE Lipovska Bistrica, and its owners are Blažo Đukanović and Ivan Burzanović. The owners of the Kolašin company Viridi progresum, which owns the Paljevinska HPP, are Aleksandar Mrdak, BMP gradnja from Podgorica (owner Božidar Bošković), Perla from Herzegnov (owners Igor and Ivan Popović) and Tradewins Adriatic LLC from Baltimore.
In Montenegro, until the beginning of this year, there were 39 sources of electricity in the incentive system, namely two wind farms Krnovo and Možura, 32 mHP and five solar power plants, with a total installed capacity of 167 megawatts, which, for example, is more than half of the production of HPP Perućica. Whose installed capacity is 307 megawatts. Pobjeda warned months ago that due to the enormous increase in electricity prices on the stock market, certain favored producers from renewable sources would exit the incentive system.
– The purchase price according to privileged producers is adjusted annually by the rate of inflation from the previous year and is not a matter of negotiation between COTEE and privileged producers, but is determined in accordance with the law and by-laws. If the privileged producer has the right to price correction according to the current regulation, it was corrected this year by the rate of inflation from the previous year – COTEE told the Pobjeda newsroom.
The Ministry of Capital Investments announced to Pobjeda at the end of November last year that it would be useful for Elektroprivreda and producers from renewable sources to find the best solution and common interest in terms of defining the purchase price of electricity and sign a cooperation agreement for 2023 on time. At that time, the department stated that they were ready to mediate, because in the first ten months of last year, thanks to the purchase of electricity from these producers, EPCG saved EUR 73 million.
However, in the past seven days, the ministry did not respond to Pobjeda’s questions about whether the purchase price should have been increased and preferential producers kept in the incentive system; who is to blame for the exit of concessionaires from that system, as well as whether we can expect the exit of the largest producers from renewable sources of wind power plants in Krnovo and Možura.
VE Krnovo has an Installed capacity of 72 megawatts (MW) and a planned annual production of 200 to 230 gigawatt hours (GWh), and VE Možura 46 MW and a planned production of 120 GWh. Based on the Law on Energy, it is prescribed that COTEE buys electricity produced from privileged producers and sells it to suppliers and self-supplier customers. In the context of the above, the supplier with whom COTEE has contracts for the sale of electricity from privileged producers is EPCG in the role of supplier.
At last week’s session of the Government, information from the Government was adopted on the regulation of the calculation of the concession fee for the use of hydropower potential due to the exit of certain electricity producers from the system of incentive measures.
– In addition to these HPPs, in the coming period, more producers can be expected to exit the incentive system – the document says and states that the reason is the fact that the market price of electricity is higher than the incentive price at which they sold their energy until now.
– Due to the expected achievement of a higher price of electricity than the one that the producers had based on the contracts signed with COTEE, there will be an increase in the basis for calculating the concession fee, and thus to higher budget revenues based on the calculated concession fees – the information says.
Last year they produced 15% of the total production
According to the latest data from COTEE, which were submitted to Pobjeda, privileged electricity producers produced 487.53 million kWh last year, which is about 15 percent of the total electricity produced in Montenegro.
A total of EUR 47.29 million was paid to them, of which they earned about EUR 5.85 million based on incentives, specified COTEE.
