Montenegro's EPCG signs deal for Piva HPP overhaul

Montenegrin power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) [MNG:EPCG] signed a 10.3 million euro ($12 million) contract for the overhaul of the Piva hydropower plant (HPP) with a tie-up of Slovenian company Litostroj and Swiss-based ABB, EPCG said.

The hydropower plant will receive modern equipment for all of its three turbines and state-of-the-art power management system, which will enable automatic control of all components, EPCG said in a statement on Tuesday.

"In addition to achieving the main goals of the project such as prolonging the life of the plant by 40 years, the overhaul will achieve high operational reliability of the plant," the executive director of EPCG, Igor Noveljic, said in the statement.

German development bank KfW will provide a 8.5 million euro financing for the project.

"With this new contract we are beginning to revitalise the plant and we hope that the equipment will be operated in the next 30, 40 years," the integration manager of Litostroj, Damjan Kolenko, said.

In May, EPCG said it aims to make investments worth 170 million euro in the next five years to enhance the safety if operation of power plants, increase company efficiency and ensure safe customer supply and stable functioning of the country's power system.

The Montenegrin government owns a 57% stake in EPCG, while Italian company A2A owns 41.75%.

($ = 0.855858 euro)

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