Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – Crnogorski elektroprenosni sistem (CGES) closed the previous year with a net profit of EUR 24.8 million last year, said the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Aleksandar Mijušković, adding that the company will continue with investments and development to meet the growing needs of users.
"Everything achieved so far not only validate our commitment but also creates new opportunities for further development and innovation. Last year, we achieved an outstanding result and a net profit of EUR 24.8 million," said Mijušković in an interview with the Mina business agency.
He recalled that the company had been recording excellent business results since its establishment, and since 2021, even historic ones.
"I will remind you that a profit earned in that year was EUR 16.9 million, in 2022 EUR 20.3 million, while in 2023 we had a record profit of as much as EUR 35.7 million, which is a total of almost EUR 100 million in profit since I was first appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of our company," specified Mijušković.
He added that this only confirmed the strength of the company's vision and strategy, as well as the dedication of the team and all employees.
"It is important to note that our company's activities are regulated by the Energy and Water Regulatory Agency of Montenegro (REGAGEN), so the profit realized, following the regulatory mechanism, is subject to adjustments," said Mijušković.
According to him, the crucial factors of this success are, above all, the implementation of significant infrastructure projects, investment in new technologies, and significant work process improvements.
"Focusing on the implementation of important, we are free to say visionary projects, have contributed to a significant increase in revenues from electricity transit, while by applying new technologies and improving work processes in all business areas, we have created much more efficient and reliable system with the historically lowest loss rate, despite the much higher transit and flow of energy through our system," explained Mijušković.
When asked how and to what extent CGES has impact on the electricity transmission tariffs for system users this year, Mijuškovic replied that the company's business results brought multiple benefits, not only to CGES shareholders but also to all electricity system users.
"In recent years, CGES, with its good business results, has influenced the electricity transmission tariff paid by citizens and businesses in Montenegro to decrease," said Mijušković.
When it comes to this year specifically, the total price of electricity should have been 5.73 percent higher for all households with a dual-tariff meter.
"However, the electricity transmission tariff adjustments for this year, reducing the price of CGES services by as much as EUR 9.5 million, resulted in the percentage increase in the total electricity price for this most numerous category of consumers being reduced to 3.41 percent," explained Mijušković.
He emphasized that the increase in prices and tariffs on bills did not occur largely as the adjustments of CGES' profit in previous years were used to reduce the transmission tariff for the present year.
"This is supported by the fact that last year the share of the electricity transmission tariff in electricity bills amounted to around 6.6 percent, while that percentage, after the decision of REGAGEN on the adjustments of CGES's regulatory allowed revenue for this year, amounts to 4.5 percent," said Mijušković.
Speaking about CGES's investments in the transmission grid, having in mind the numerous projects implemented in the previous period, and further development plans, Mijušković said that CGES, recognizing the challenges, had been investing in the modernization and expansion of its capacities to ensure the stability of electricity supply to all its users.
"Numerous investments have been implemented in the past period, which I am extremely pleased with. The efforts made have brought visible improvements in the quality and reliability of the electricity transmission grid," said Mijušković.
However, as he said, the company is aware of the fact that there are still many challenges ahead.
"We will continue with investments and development to ensure even better performance and meet the growing needs of users through a five-year investment plan, worth EUR 207 million, which envisages major infrastructure projects. These investments will brings the opportunity for growth, infrastructural progress, and improvement of the quality of life of citizens throughout Montenegro," stressed Mijušković.
He particularly highlighted the largest infrastructure projects, first of all, the Trans-Balkan Corridor, the implementation of which will significantly increase the capacity for energy transit from the Balkan Peninsula to Italy and meet the necessary conditions for coupling the Montenegrin with Italian electricity market, i.e. the single European electricity market.
There are also projects to increase the capacity of existing and establishing new interconnections with neighboring systems, as well as significant projects to strengthen the internal grid, which are crucial for successful RES integration into the system.
As Mijušković emphasized, the safety and reliability of the power system operation is also an important aspect.
He said that the "green transition", as we popularly call the replacement of conventional fossil-fuel-powered electricity sources, with ecological, renewable electricity sources, has brought great challenges to the power system across Europe.
"Since the production of electricity from renewable sources cannot be controlled, large, uncontrolled flows of electricity have begun to appear in the power system, compromising its stability and safety. These problems can only be effectively resolved by strengthening the internal grid and interconnections with neighboring systems, which CGES has provided for in its plans and has been working on with dedication," said Mijušković.
Also, as he pointed out, an important aspect in solving these problems is the development of new mechanisms for regional cooperation and coordinated work to preserve the security of the power system at the regional and European levels.
"We have so far initiated the implementation of several different mechanisms for preserving the regional security of the system with neighboring transmission operators and we have been making joint efforts to overcome all the challenges in operational work, which are now many," said Mijušković.
When asked how many employees CGES currently has and how much this data differs from 2009 when the company became independent, Mijušković replied that the number of employees as of March 31 this year was 340, while in 2009, the company had 316 employees.
"So, in the past 16 years of operation, only 24 more employees," said Mijušković.
He emphasized that during that time, the transmission grid had been significantly expanded.
The number of high-voltage substations has increased from 19 to 30, while the length of transmission lines has increased from 1,270 kilometers to 1,550 kilometers, and the complexity of all business processes has increased manifold.
"I would like to point out that our company takes special care of and constantly invests in human resources, as well as in improving business efficiency and rationality. However, I will make a comparison with regional TSOs, which have an incomparably larger number of employees than us, allowing them to deal more effectively with increasingly complex challenges in the power sector," added Mijušković.
For example, the Croatian HOPS, the Albanian OST, and the Macedonian MEPSO increased the number of employees by 15, 20, and 40 percent for the period 2010-2024, respectively, which is a similar case with other transmission companies in Europe.
Mijušković stated the selfless effort, work, and commitment of the employees, facing with their knowledge and dedication every challenge in the best possible way, stand behind the success of CGES.
Their motivation and dedication to tasks contribute to completing each project at the highest level, which is a source of pride for our entire company. Therefore, the fact that we have achieved all these successes with only a slight increase in the number of employees over the past 16 years speaks volumes about their efficiency, commitment, and exceptional engagement" concluded Mijušković.