Montenegro's Perucica HPP hits 43% of annual goal in Jan-Apr

Perucica is expected to send a total of 920,000 MWh of electricity to the national power grid by the end of the year, EPCG said in a statement on Friday.

The plant, which celebrated 64 years in operations on May 12, has produced 54,978,895 MWh of electricity since its launch in 1960, the statement read.

Perucica, with an installed capacity of 307 MW, is one of the two big hydropower plants operated by EPCG. The other one is the 342 MW Piva HPP.

Last month, EPCG said it expects to sign in June a 40 million euro ($43 million) loan with German development bank KfW to finance the installation of a new 58.5 MW turbine at Perucica that will lift its overall capacity to 365.5 MW.

EPCG's installed generation capacities total 874 MW, with 649 MW coming from Perucica and Piva, and 225 MW being contributed by the country's sole thermal power plant, TE Pljevlja. EPCG also has several small hydropower plants.

In 2023, Montenegro's electricity production rose 25% on the year and was 12% higher than planned, reaching 4,043 GWh, and meeting the needs of gross consumption which went up 3% to 3,179 GWh, the energy ministry said in March.

HPP Perucica generated 1,039 GWh of electricity last year, up 45% compared to 2022, while HPP Piva's output jumped 67% to 933 GWh. The electricity produced by TE Pljevlja increased 5% to 1,523 GWh.

($ = 0.928 euro)