April 1 (SeeNews) - Montenegrin power exchange BELEN has selected Norway's Nord Pool as its partner in the project for establishing the first competitive Montenegrin day-ahead power market, Nord Pool said.
BELEN has chosen the Norwegian power market operator Nord Pool in an open competition, Nord Pool said in a statement on Friday.
The two partners have committed themselves to the development of a transparent and efficient power market that would enable Montenegro to couple with neighbouring countries according to the European Internal Energy Market (IEM) standards.
It is planned that the new Montenegrin day-ahead power market will become operational in early 2020. The two parties also intend to extend the cooperation to include Nord Pool becoming a shareholder of BELEN, Nord Pool said.
"We are very proud to announce that we have successfully completed the competitive request for offer procedure to identify the best possible strategic partnership model for BELEN and for Montenegro. This was made possible with the help of the Energy Community Secretariat and Technical Assistance to Connectivity in the Western Balkans and we would like to thank them for their support throughout the entire process," the COO of BELEN, Dejan Draskovic, said in the statement.
The cooperation will include support to establish processes and procedures required to operate a national day-ahead market in Montenegro, market coupling with neighbouring countries and day-ahead clearing and settlement processes, Nord Pool said.
"To develop a liquid, and, more importantly, competitive market in Montenegro is key to establishing the country as a gateway between the Balkan region and Europe, through the undersea cable to Italy. This will ensure that Montenegro plays a vital role in moving the whole south-east European power market closer to the EU internal market," the CEO of Nord Pool, Kari Ekelund Thoerud, said.
BELEN is a limited liability company founded in June 2017 under a Montenegrin government decision with the purpose of establishing and operating an organised day-ahead electricity market in Montenegro.