Montenegrin utility reports high demand for solar rebate program

EPCG says that around 14,000 homeowners and housing associations in Montenegro have filed requests to secure rebates for rooftop PV systems under the government’s Solar 5000+ program.

Entities can secure rebates to cover 20% of the cost of buying and installing rooftop PV systems. The utility said it will now select eligible applicants through a specific call that will be launched in the middle of December.

Eligible PV systems will then operate under a net metering scheme that EPCG and the country’s Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism kicked off in July 2021. The €70 million ($73.9 million) scheme is designed to facilitate the deployment of around 70 MW of rooftop PV capacity.

“EPCG did everything to simplify the process of application and installation of PV systems, and even initiated the amendment of the Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction, which exempted the owners of PV systems with a capacity of less than 30 kW from requesting urban planning and technical approval,” the utility said in a statement.

EPCG is also building a 100 MW solar project in partnership with Finnish utility Fortum, as well as a floating PV plant.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Montenegro had just 7 MW of installed solar capacity at the end of 2021. Most of its electrical power demand is currently met by the 225 MW Pljevlja thermal power plant and two large hydropower plants, at Perućica (307 MW) and Piva (363 MW).