The construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Montenegrin port of Bar would position the city, as well as the whole country, as an energy hub in the Western Balkans region. This is a conclusion of a meeting of Montenegrin Minister of Finance Aleksandar Damjanovic with the representatives of US State Department in Washington.
The topic of the meeting was the economic relations between Montenegro and the United States, with an emphasis on cooperation in the field of energy.
The statement from the Ministry of Finance said that it was jointly assessed that the issues of energy security, diversification and transformation towards renewable sources and the so-called “clean” energy of inestimable importance for both countries. In this sense, the two sides discussed the possibility of the construction of LNG terminal in the Port of Bar. Concrete steps towards the realization of this idea were also agreed at the meeting.
In December 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with state-owned power utility EPCG, which envisages the preparation of feasibility studies for the construction of an LNG terminal in Bar, as well as new gas-fired power plants in Bar and possibly in Podgorica.
According to the MoU, Singaporean LNG Allianace would build the infrastructure needed to import gas that would arrive in Bar by ships – LNG tankers, as well as the infrastructure needed to bring gas to new power plants that would be managed by EPCG. This would include the construction of a gas pipeline from the terminal to the location of the power plant in Bar, that is, in Podgorica.