July 4 (SeeNews) - Italian electricity transmission system operator Terna has completed the laying of the underwater power transmission cable linking Montenegro to Italy, the Montenegrin government said.
"This project, the largest of its kind in Mediterranean, has already supported the launch of local businesses worth more than 60 million euro," the government quoted the CEO of Terna, Luigi Ferraris, as saying in a press release, following a meeting with Montenegrin prime minister Dusko Markovic in Podgorica on Wednesday.
The power interconnection will have a transfer capacity of 600 MW and not 1,200 MW as initially planned, Ferraris said last year.
The European Commission, together with Germany's development bank KfW and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), provided 3.5 million euro ($3.95 million) financial assistance for project identification and preparation of the Montenegro section, under the Western Balkans Investment Framework. The European Union further supported the financing of the works under the 2015 Connectivity Agenda, through a 25 million euro grant.
The 1.15 billion euro project consists of an interconnection between Montenegro – Italy (underwater cable), the construction and enhancement of the internal 400 kV network in Montenegro, and the construction of 400 kV overhead lines between Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia. The total length of the power line is 445 km and 423 km of it is undersea.
($ = 0.885884 euro)