Montenegrin state-controlled power utility EPCG is ready to start the construction of a second unit at thermal power plant (TPP) Pljevlja even if it fails to find a partner by the end of March as planned, deputy prime minister Vujica Lazovic said on Friday.

In May, EPCG said China’sPowerchina Hubei Electric Power Survey had filed the lowest bid in the tender called in 2013 for the construction of Pljevlja TPP's second unit, offering to build a 250 MW capacity at a cost of 277 million euro ($322 million).

Final bids for the contract were also filed by Czech company Skoda Praha and by the China Machinery Engineering Corporation, offering project costs of,respectively, 356.7 million euro for 254 MW and of 278 million euro for a 250 MW capacity.

In 2009, Italy's A2A signed a deal to acquire from the Montenegrin government a minority stake in EPCG while taking on a significant role in its management. The Montenegrin government remains the majority owner of EPCG with a 57% stake while A2A owns 41.75%.

EPCG has own funds and can also borrow money for the project, the Montenegrin government said in a statement, quoting deputy prime minister Lazovic. The official added that A2A wants a third partner as a financier to be included in the project.

Last month, Montenegrin news daily Vijesti reported that Montenegro would try to reach by the end of March an agreement with A2A on their partnership as the top shareholders of EPCG. The main sticking point in the negotiations - held in the run-up to the expiry in March of A2A's five-year management agreement, is the construction of the new unit at TPP Pljevlja, which the Italian company would not like to be financing, the daily reported at the time.

EPCG operates867 MW of installed generation capacity, including 657 MW of hydro and 210 MW of thermal power capacity. The utility produced a combined 3,802 GWh of electricity in 2013 at its three hydro power plants - Perucica, Piva and Male, and one TPP, Pljevlja.

SEENews