Montenegrin power utility EPCG said that it plans to invest 2.1 million euros in the overhaul of its hydropower plant Piva, which recently celebrated 40 years of operation.
According to the statement from EPCG, the overhaul in question will be carried out in the next six months. The 340 MW HPP produced 109.8 GWh of electricity since the beginning of the year.
In 2016, HPP Piva produced 792.46 GWh of electricity, which represents 26.2 % of the total electricity production in Montenegro.
EPCG adopted a decision on the revitalization of HPP Piva in 2007. The project involves the revitalization and modernization of hydro-mechanical and electrical equipment in order to extent the operational life of the plant by additional 30 to 40 years. Last year, Head of modernization of hydropower plants unit at EPCG, Bosko Bozovic explained that during the preparation of tender documentation two options are considered. In the first variant, the extent of modernization, in addition to turbine regulator and generator control system, includes the generator’s primary equipment (turbines and turbine equipment, generator equipment and block transformers). Thus, the power output of the plant will be increased. The second variant does not include increasing the power output of the plant and generator’s primary equipment is excluded from the scope of the revitalization. The scope will be limited to replacement and modernization of the entire turbine control system and generator control system, while the revitalization of primary equipment would be carried out in some later stage of the project.
Montenegrin state is the largest shareholder in EPCG with 57 % stake, while Italian company A2A holds 41.75 % of the company’s shares.
