May 17 (SeeNews) - Montenegrin steel works EPCG Zeljezara Niksic will manufacture 150 tonnes of solar panel substructures in the coming period, local media reported.
The company is currently working on an order to manufacture substructures for 270 solar parks, factory manager Blazo Muratovic was quoted as saying by media outlet RTNK.
“We have a lot in the pipeline and by New Year we hope that around 500 workers will be employed at the steelworks,” Muratovic added.
State-owned power utility EPCG bought the Zeljezara Niksic steel mill from Turkey's Toscelik for 20 million euro ($21.6 million) under a deal signed in December. In January, EPCG said that it would transfer the newly acquired assets to Zeljezara Niksic in order to provide additional support for the development of solar and other types of renewable energy solutions.
Toscelik acquired Zeljezara Niksic in 2012 for 15.1 million euro after placing the best bid in a tender launched by the Montenegrin government. The Turkish owner suspended production at Zeljezara Niksic in March 2021, due to a drop in orders caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In September 2022, Toscelik dismissed all 229 workers from the steel mill.
($ = 0.9245 euro)