EBRD mulls lending 35 mln euro to Montenegro's CEDIS

The proceeds of the loan will be used to finance the acquiring and implementation of SCADA/ADMS (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, and Advanced Distribution Management System) system and the procurement of new smart meters, the EBRD said in a project summary disclosure, adding it is set to approve the financing on July 3.

"The Project will reduce technical losses by 10-30 per cent, reduce the energy outages of the grid by approx. six times, allow integration of new renewable energy sources (RES) into the grid, and increase the cyber security level, among other benefits," the bank said.

Once approved, the loan will be disbursed in two tranches. CEDIS will first get 25 million euro - to use 15 million euro for Phase I of the SCADA/ADMS implementation and 10 million euro for the procurement of new smart meters. The second tranche of 10 million euro is then earmarked for Phase II of the SCADA/ADMS implementation.

The EBRD said that the replacement of CEDIS's legacy distribution management system will optimise the company's operations and will finally result in an improved quality of life for Montenegro's population. In addition, the project will also further support the rollout of smart meters in line with European Union and Energy Community standards.

CEDIS, which is fully-owned by state-controlled electricity producer Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG), owns and operates Montenegro's power distribution networks of up to 35 kV. The grid operator has a natural monopoly over electricity distribution, distributing some 2.8 TWh of electricity to around 440,000 consumers over its 20,000 km of networks and 5,000 substations. It employs some 1,470 people, as per the statement.

($ = 0.928 euro)