Igor Noveljic, Managing Director of Elektroprivreda Montenegro (EPCG), announced that the first phase of works for the solar power plant in Ulcinj, near Bliska Gora, will begin, with a deadline of 18 months for construction and is expected to be in production by the end of 2021. Noveljic said that the establishment of the project company (SPV), based in Montenegro, is in the final phase, which will be in charge of the project, whose total value exceeds 200 million euros.
The ownership structure of the company will be made by the winners on the state tender for the construction of a solar power plant: Finnish Fortum and EPCG with 49 percent of the shares, and Sterling & Wilson with two percent of the shares.
Noveljic specified that around 45 million relates to the first phase, which includes the procurement of the module and the overall scope of designing, purchasing and installing equipment along with works stipulated by the contract. The value of the investment in the transmission network, i.e., the power transmission system of Montenegro, including the construction of the substation "Bar 2", is estimated at about 30 million.
"The benefit of the project implementation will be multiple for EPCG, state, local government, domestic companies, and finally, citizens and consumers. Only based on lease costs, the investor will pay over 50 million euros into the state budget for a term of 25 years, not counting any other anticipated fees, taxes and costs that will be a significant part of the municipal budget," Noveljic said.
He added that, after the completion of both phases, 226 workers are expected to be employed, and he expects that up to 1,000 workers will be employed on the site during construction, as well as the participation of domestic firms will be around 20 million euros.
The contract between the state and consortium EPCG representatives, Fortum and Sterling & Wilson for land lease and construction of a solar power plant over 250 megawatts was signed last year, on December 28th. EPCG's Director, in response to what has been done to date, responded that negotiations with Sterling & Wilson, the world's largest EPC contractor in the field of solar power plant construction are ongoing, and about EPC contract design, equipment procurement, and solar power plant construction:
"Additionally, in the final phase, preparation of the necessary documentation regarding the establishment of a project company that will be in charge of the realization of the project, i.e. the contract of the members of the company, will soon be the subject of approval by the company's management, the Board of Directors and the EPCG Shareholders Assembly. After that, it will be established and registered," Noveljic said. The planned annual solar power plant production, after completion of both project phases, will amount to approximately 450 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually.
The agreement foresees the lease of state-owned land of 6,621,121 square meters, out of which 2,930,243 square meters have valid spatial planning documentation for the purpose of building solar power plants, and for the remaining area it is necessary to obtain the spatial planning documentation.
Text by Ivana Gudovic, on May 29th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
