hydro

Montenegro: EPCG selects Vigoris Ecotec to build Otilovici 2.6 MW small hydropower plant

Montenegrin state-owned power utility EPCG has made a key step toward constructing the Otilovici small hydropower plant (SHPP) by selecting the winning bid in a public procurement valued at 6.8 million euros. The tender, conducted as an open procurement process, covers the full delivery of the project, including detailed design preparation, civil construction, supply and […]

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Flexibility without reward: Why southeast Europe balances Europe’s power system but captures none of the value

In the emerging architecture of Europe’s electricity system, flexibility has become the most valuable attribute a power asset can possess. The ability to ramp output quickly, absorb surplus generation, stabilise frequency, or respond to sudden imbalances now matters more than raw installed capacity. Yet while flexibility has become scarce, it has not become fairly priced.

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Europe’s variable power system: How wind, solar and nuclear reshaped electricity flows from the EU core to southeast Europe

For most of the past half-century, Europe’s electricity system could be understood through a relatively simple lens. Power was generated close to where it was consumed, national systems were planned around predictable baseload plants, and cross-border flows played a supporting role rather than defining market outcomes. Electricity prices reflected domestic generation costs, demand patterns were

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Serbia: EBRD appoints consortium to oversee €110 million Vlasinske hydropower modernization

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed a consortium to oversee the refurbishment of the Vlasinske hydropower plants, a central part of Serbia’s broader initiative to modernize its energy infrastructure. The project is being implemented by state-owned power utility EPS, which formalized the supervision contract on 1 December. Valued at €2.49 million,

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Hydro as a European flexibility asset: Montenegro’s reservoirs in a coupled Italy–SEE system

For decades, Montenegro’s hydroelectric system has been perceived primarily through a regional lens. Its reservoirs and run-of-river plants were valued as instruments of domestic supply security and, at most, as balancing assets for neighbouring Balkan systems. Market coupling with Italy fundamentally redefines this role. Montenegro’s hydro fleet is no longer optimised against a regional Balkan

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Regional power-flow shifts after the Pljevlja shutdown: Montenegro in a rewired Balkan energy landscape

The shutdown of Pljevlja transforms Montenegro’s internal energy balance, but its implications extend beyond national borders. In the interconnected Balkan power system, every addition or removal of a major unit reshapes flows, congestion points, trade patterns and price correlations. Montenegro’s transition to a predominantly hydro-wind profile introduces a new dynamic into a region already balancing

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Private wind producers in Montenegro: From peripheral players to system-defining actors

Montenegro’s power system is undergoing a quiet reordering of influence. Where state hydro once dominated unchallenged and Pljevlja provided the stable backbone, private wind producers are emerging as system-defining actors. They are reshaping generation patterns, altering the economics of supply, influencing price formation and pushing Montenegro into deeper integration with regional markets. The first generation

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Balancing costs in Montenegro’s post-coal power system

As Montenegro steps into a future without Pljevlja’s coal-fired stability, the cost of balancing becomes the defining economic metric of its power system. Balancing is never a simple technicality; it is the financial manifestation of volatility. When wind ramps up quickly or collapses within minutes, when hydrology restrains reservoir operations, when cross-border flows tighten and

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Montenegro’s power future: Transitioning from coal at Pljevlja to wind, hydro and import options

Montenegro finds itself at a key inflection point. The only coal-fired thermal power plant in the country, Yugoslav Thermal Power Plant Pljevlja (TPP Pljevlja), with an installed capacity of about 225 MW, has for decades been the backbone of domestic generation and is now scheduled for gradual shutdown. (OECD) Its decommissioning raises fundamental questions about

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Hydro–storage–renewables integration strategy for SEE

Designing an integration strategy for hydropower, storage and renewables in South-East Europe means accepting that no single technology can deliver both decarbonisation and stability. Wind and solar bring energy and cost advantages. Hydro brings dispatchable flexibility and system strength. Storage brings speed and granularity. The challenge is to orchestrate them into a coherent architecture that

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