Montenegro’s Perućica hydropower plant has returned 190 megawatts of capacity to the grid after scheduled maintenance, easing pressure on the electricity system at a time when an outage at the Pljevlja coal-fired plant has increased the country’s exposure to imports.
State utility EPCG said generating units A1, A2, A6 and A7 at Perućica had been tested and returned to operation following an annual overhaul that required the hydropower plant to shut down completely.
EPCG accelerated the restart because of problems at the Pljevlja thermal power plant, Montenegro’s largest conventional generating asset.
The simultaneous unavailability of major domestic plants can leave Montenegro significantly more dependent on imported electricity, particularly when hydrological conditions are weak or regional prices are high.
Perućica had produced about 610.8 gigawatt-hours before the maintenance period and remained several percent ahead of its production plan, EPCG said.
Its return improves Montenegro’s short-term supply position and gives EPCG greater flexibility to cover domestic demand.
The episode also highlights the structural importance of hydropower in Montenegro’s electricity system.
Perućica and the larger Piva hydropower plant provide much of the country’s flexible generation, while Pljevlja supplies baseload electricity.
When the thermal plant is unavailable, hydro reserves can limit imports, but their ability to do so depends heavily on reservoir levels, rainfall and decisions over when to conserve water for later periods.
That creates a direct link between plant availability and regional electricity trading.
Montenegro is interconnected with neighbouring Balkan systems and Italy through the undersea cable, allowing imports and exports to respond quickly to domestic supply conditions.
For EPCG, prolonged thermal outages can therefore translate into purchases on regional wholesale markets, potentially increasing costs when prices rise in neighbouring Hungary, Serbia, Croatia or other interconnected markets.
The company is investing heavily in additional renewable capacity, including the Gvozd and Gvozd 2 wind projects and a broader solar pipeline, but intermittent wind and solar cannot fully replace the balancing role provided by dispatchable hydro and thermal generation.
The operational status of Pljevlja is consequently likely to remain one of the main variables affecting Montenegro’s electricity balance until more generation, storage and flexibility capacity enters service.
Perućica’s return removes part of the immediate supply risk.
But the combination of scheduled hydro maintenance and unexpected thermal outages shows why Montenegro can shift rapidly between electricity exporter and importer depending on plant availability and hydrological conditions.
For regional traders, Montenegro’s generation position will remain worth watching because even relatively small changes in domestic output can alter import demand across interconnected Southeast European markets.
