Secretariat welcomes start of implementation of day-ahead market in Montenegro

The Secretariat welcomes the start of the implementation of a day-ahead market in Montenegro. BELEN, the power exchange company of Montenegro responsible for the establishment of a national day-ahead market, signed today a Service Agreement with European Power Exchange EPEX SPOT and Slovenian BSP for setting up a day-ahead power market in Montenegro.

According to the companies, their cooperation will include support in establishing processes and procedures required to operate the national day-ahead market in Montenegro, market coupling with neighbouring countries and day-ahead clearing and settlement processes.

This is key step towards improving competition and liquidity of the electricity market in Montenegro. The Secretariat welcomes BELEN’s plan to initiate coupling with neighbouring markets from the very beginning of day-ahead market operation in nine months. This will contribute to regional electricity market integration and ensure a robust price signal. The parties reiterated the need to ensure compatibility of the national VAT regime with that applicable for other power exchanges, as a precondition for smooth market functioning and coupling. The Energy Community Secretariat will continue to support Montenegro in these endeavours.

The project was supported by the project “Technical Assistance to Connectivity in the Western Balkans - Component 2: Regional Energy Market”, which was funded by the European Union and implemented by the Energy Community Secretariat.