Montenegro is once again considering the construction of gas-fired power plants and a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Port of Bar, placing the country at the center of a much broader geopolitical and energy-security realignment unfolding across the Balkans and Central Europe. The renewed discussion comes amid intensifying United States efforts to expand LNG supply corridors into Southeast Europe as Europe accelerates diversification away from Russian gas dependence.
The emerging strategy increasingly positions the Adriatic coast — particularly Croatia and potentially Montenegro — as an alternative LNG gateway for the Western Balkans. Montenegro’s government has already signed multiple memoranda of understanding with international energy companies regarding the possible development of an LNG import terminal in Bar alongside associated gas-fired generation capacity.
The latest phase involves cooperation with Japanese energy giant JERA, which is conducting a comprehensive feasibility study covering the technical, commercial and financial viability of an LNG terminal and associated gas-fired power plants in Montenegro. Prime Minister Milojko Spajić stated earlier this year that the study is expected to be finalized by mid-2026.
According to earlier EPCG and government studies, Montenegro has examined multiple potential gas power plant configurations ranging between 50 MW and 400 MW, with possible locations including Bar, Podgorica, Nikšić and Pljevlja. Estimated investment requirements have ranged between approximately €233 million and €362 million, depending on plant scale and infrastructure configuration.
The strategic logic behind the project is increasingly tied to wider regional energy restructuring. The United States has intensified efforts to position American LNG exports as a core alternative supply source for Central and Eastern Europe. Earlier this year, a group of Balkan and Central European countries signed a joint declaration in Washington supporting expanded access to US LNG supplies and diversified gas import routes.
Although Montenegro was not among the formal signatories, the country’s LNG ambitions fit directly into that emerging regional architecture. A future LNG terminal in Bar could theoretically supply not only Montenegro, but also parts of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and potentially Hungary, transforming Montenegro from a relatively isolated electricity market into a regional gas transit and balancing node.
For Serbia, the implications are especially important. President Aleksandar Vučić previously confirmed Serbian interest in accessing LNG imports through a future Bar terminal, particularly as Belgrade attempts to diversify supply options amid uncertainty surrounding long-term Russian gas dependence and the evolving sanctions environment around NIS.
The debate also reflects a broader contradiction increasingly visible across Europe’s energy transition. While governments continue publicly prioritizing decarbonization, renewable energy and climate neutrality, many electricity systems are simultaneously returning to gas-fired generation as a stabilizing technology capable of supporting grids with rapidly rising wind and solar penetration.
In Montenegro’s case, the issue is becoming increasingly urgent because the country still relies heavily on hydropower variability and the aging Pljevlja coal power plant, which faces mounting environmental and EU compliance pressure. Gas generation is therefore being examined as a transitional balancing solution capable of improving system flexibility, reserve margins and winter security of supply.
Supporters of the LNG project argue that Montenegro could strengthen energy security, attract strategic infrastructure investment and potentially develop new industrial activity linked to gas logistics and regional supply chains. Some project concepts also include future adaptability toward hydrogen or ammonia infrastructure.
Opposition, however, remains substantial. Environmental organizations, local activists and sections of Montenegro’s coastal municipalities have strongly criticized the LNG plans, arguing that the projects risk locking Montenegro into long-term fossil fuel dependency precisely when Europe is accelerating decarbonization policies. More than 40 NGOs and civic organizations have publicly opposed construction of an LNG terminal and gas-fired power plant in Bar.
The Port of Bar itself has become central to the debate. From a geopolitical perspective, the port offers Montenegro a rare opportunity to reposition itself within regional energy logistics. From an environmental perspective, critics warn that industrial LNG infrastructure could fundamentally alter one of the Adriatic coast’s sensitive tourism and ecological zones.
Financial viability also remains uncertain. LNG economics in Europe have become significantly more volatile since the energy crisis, with future profitability depending heavily on long-term gas pricing, regasification utilization rates, regional pipeline connectivity and the pace of renewable deployment across the Balkans.
Yet despite those uncertainties, Montenegro’s gas strategy increasingly appears tied to a larger restructuring of Europe’s energy geography. The Western Balkans are gradually evolving from peripheral energy systems into contested infrastructure corridors linking LNG imports, electricity interconnections, renewable balancing capacity and future industrial decarbonization supply chains.
For Montenegro, the LNG discussion is therefore no longer only about building a terminal or a gas plant. It increasingly concerns whether the country wants to position itself primarily as a tourism-dependent coastal economy or as a broader regional infrastructure and energy-security platform integrated into the shifting geopolitical map of Southeast Europe.
