Commercial cable usage is planned for the next year, which will make Montenegro the power knot of the Western Balkan region. The cable between Pescara in Italy and cape Jaz located between Budva and Kotor in Montenegro is installed by Italian electricity transmission company Terna in cooperation with Montenegrin Electric Power Transmission (CGES) company. The total length of the cable is 455 kilometers, of which 433 kilometers are underwater. This project involves two poles of the interconnection (more than 430 km of submarine route covering depths of up to 1,200 m) made of an 500 kV DC submarine cable system with a rated power of 500 MW per pole (1,000 MW per two poles).
The submarine cable installation together with the construction of the transmission line Lastva-Cevo-Pljevlja and power substation in Lastva planned by the end of the year is a part of the Trans-Balkan corridor, which will connect Montenegro, Serbia, and Romania in order to achieve the connection of Balkan power markets with Western European ones.
When completed, the inland structures will provide all the construction and technical preconditions for starting the operations of synchronizing the submarine infrastructure with the national transmission network. This transformation station aims not only to direct energy but is the main function of this transformation platform - the conversion of one-way power transmitted by a submarine cable to alternate, which then enters the electro-energy systems of Montenegro and Italy.
The total value of the investment for the Montenegrin part, which includes the construction of the Lastva substation, the 400 kV transmission line Lastva-CevoPljevlja and the connection of the existing 400 kV transmission line Podgorica-Trebinje to Lastva substation, amounts to 106 million euros, namely 127 million euros if the construction of the transmission line from Pljevlja to the Serbian border is included as well.
The construction of Lastva Grbaljska substation will cost 38.5 million euros, the 400 kV transmission line between Lastva Grbaljska and Cevo will cost 28.5 million euros, while the construction of the 400 kV transmission line from Cevo to Pljevlja will cost an additional 39 million euros.
This project is supposed to promote and facilitate the development of the next-generation power interconnections among European countries (the Supergrid). The Supergrid is intended to rejuvenate the European power market by introducing large-scale renewable energy systems, balancing electricity demand and supply, and enhancing power transmission efficiency.
