According to a document posted on the Montenegro government’s website last week, the government has adopted a draft basis to hold negotiations with Jera on signing the memorandum.
Under the memorandum, Jera will conduct a feasibility study for the LNG terminal and the accompanying gas thermal power plant in Montenegro.
This study should outline possibilities and options for the further implementation of the project, ultimately leading to the conclusion of final, binding contracts.
According to the draft MoU attached to the document, the government “recognises the need for energy security as critical to ensuring the sustainability and development of the country of Montenegro and the betterment of its citizens.”
“However, energy security must be secured on a cost-effective basis, and with an eye to decarbonizing the Montenegro’s energy supply,” it said.
“The parties wish to work together, on an exclusive basis, to conduct a study on the feasibility of developing, procuring, constructing, operating, and maintaining, and project financing (with the assistance of commercial banks, development finance institutions, and export credit agencies) an LNG terminal and associated gas-fired power plant in Montenegro,” the draft MoU says.
Bar LNG terminal
Montenegro has no LNG import terminals, but there were previous announcements on building such facilities in the Balkan country.
In 2023, the government of Montenegro signed a memorandum of understanding with two US-based firms to build an LNG import terminal and a power plant in Bar.
The US companies are Enerflex Energy Systems and Wethington Energy Innovation.
The governemnt said at the time that the fixed terminal at or near the port of Bar, on the Adriatic Sea, would consist of an offloading pier for imports of LNG, storage facilities for LNG, and a regasification facility which would supply the gas via a short pipeline to the nearby thermopower project.
However, there were no updates regarding this project after this announcement.
Besides this deal, Singapore-based LNG Alliance signed a memorandum of understanding with Montenegro’s state-owned power firm EPCG in December 2021 to look into building an LNG import terminal and two gas-fired power plants in the country.
In May 2022, LNG Alliance completed the prefeasibility studies for the proposed Bar LNG terminal and signed a new MoU with the Port of Bar for further advanced studies for the FSU-based 0.4 mtpa import terminal, which can be modularly expanded to 1.2 mtpa with demand, the firm said at the time.
