Montenegro’s state-owned electricity utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore has requested government approval for a long-term loan of up to €64.22 million to finance ten renewable-energy projects with combined installed capacity of 95.87 MW.
Government consent is required under Montenegro’s Budget and Fiscal Responsibility Law because EPCG is a state-controlled company entering a long-term borrowing arrangement. The proposed loan would not carry a state guarantee and is not expected to create a direct obligation for the national budget.
The portfolio includes the Solari 5000+ programme, the Željezara solar power plant, solar installations at the Vrtač, Slano and Krupac dams, the Kapino Polje L1, L2, B1 and B2 projects and the first phase of the Krupac solar development.
The plants are projected to generate approximately 124,518 MWh annually. Based on the stated capacity, this implies a portfolio-wide capacity factor of around 14.8%, broadly consistent with a group dominated by distributed and utility-scale solar assets.
EPCG projects annual revenue of approximately €20.7 million and EBITDA close to €20 million during the first full year of operation. The estimates indicate an unusually high EBITDA margin and an average realised revenue of roughly €166/MWh, meaning that power-price assumptions, customer repayments and any regulated or contracted revenue components will be central to the final economics.
The company estimates an internal rate of return of 30.44%, net present value of approximately €196.2 million and a payback period slightly above three years. These are strong projected returns for electricity-generation assets and will require close validation of production forecasts, tariff assumptions, operating costs, customer-credit performance and construction schedules.
EPCG has already invested approximately €18.9 million from its own resources. Part of the proposed financing would allow the company to recover previously deployed capital and improve liquidity. Under Solari 5000+, participating customers are expected to cover around 90% of investment costs, lowering EPCG’s effective long-term burden.
An independent risk analysis concluded that the investments should generate sufficient cash flow to service the debt, including under less favourable scenarios. The Ministry of Finance nevertheless recommended stronger risk management, investment planning and liquidity controls given the scale of EPCG’s wider capital programme.
The Ministry of Energy and Mining supported the proposal, describing the projects as strategically important for domestic production, supply security and reduced import dependence. The financing structure would give EPCG additional capacity without an explicit sovereign guarantee, but the quality of project documentation, procurement control, connection readiness and production monitoring will remain important to lenders.
