TRANSMISSION LINES CUT THROUGH NATIONAL PARKS, ALTHOUGH THERE WERE OTHER SOLUTIONS: BUDGET SAVINGS AT THE EXPENSE OF NATURE DEVASTATION

The transmission lines pass through the strictly protected area of Durmitor and Emerald areas of Lovćen and the rivers Komarnica, Tara, and Ćehotina. The project worth 106 million is also questionable economically after the Italians halved the submarine cable

The 400-kilovolt transmission line, which should link the south with the north of Montenegro, as a continuation of the undersea power interconnector of the Italian company TERNA, will irreversibly endanger nature in the Lovćen and Durmitor national parks and cause significant damage to the rivers of Komarnica, Tara and Ćehotina.

Despite warnings that the transmission line could go another route or underground through the parks, the authorities did not care enough about the environmental damage, but opted for the shortest alternative, in order to save 16 million euros. Thus, parts of national parks will be cut off, plant and animal species endangered, and the landscapes due to which these areas have been inscribed on the UNESCO list destroyed.

The Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the Čevo - Pljevlja corridor, conducted by “Liming project” bureau owned by Željko Asanović, states that forest habitats will suffer more damage due to fragmentation along the entire route, while non-forest habitats where transmission lines are installed will be irretrievably destroyed. The study specifies that, in addition to the territory of the Durmitor National Park, the transmission line route will have a direct impact on two Emerald sites - Komarnica and Ćehotina.

"The construction of the transmission line will destroy smaller areas of NATURA 2000 habitats in the Komarnica canyon, Sinjajevina, and the Ćehotina valley. There are no rare habitats among them in Montenegro,” it is stated in the study, which the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) received from the Environmental Protection Agency. Apart from the canyons of the Komarnica and Tara, as it is pointed out, transmission lines pose a special threat to birds of prey through collision with electric vires during the capture of prey. However, the authors of the study believe that, given the narrow space of the route, "the survival of any species will not be called into question."

Emerald is an ecological network made up of areas of special conversation interest. It operates in parallel with the Natura 2000 program in the European Union.

Energy experts are also questioning the economic viability of this transmission line and the investment of 106 million euros, because the submarine cable was ceremoniously put into operation on November 15 last year, only half of the announced capacity, 600 instead of 1,200 megawatts. That is why the transmission of electricity is performed without any problems by the existing network of transmission lines.

Savings was the main goal for the creditors as well. A document from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which provided a 60 million euro worth loan to the Montenegrin Electrical Transmission System (MNE: CGES) for the 106 million euro worth project, points out that one corridor solution avoiding both national parks was analyzed in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in which the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) had an insight to.

"This corridor would be over 200 km long compared to the proposed 152.5 km corridor, and longer for about 50 km . This would raise costs by about 16,000,000 EUR, or about 27 percent. This alternative was not considered economically feasible," it is stated in the document.

Economic savings and a shorter route means the transmission line to pass 11 kilometers through the Lovćen National Park and another three kilometers through the Durmitor National Park.

The EBRD's website states that they consulted several environmental NGOs to assist CGES in preparing the ESIA in line with the EU Directive and the bank's requirements.

One of them is Green Home, whose executive director Natasa Kovacevic emphasized for CIN-CG, that they have warned the EBRD that this project is not following the principles of environmental sustainability and asked it to refrain from financing it in the foreseeable future unless all issues are resolved adequately.

During public hearings on environmental impact assessments organized by the EBRD and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), three key issues were highlighted - the environmental damage of the project, socio-economic justification and shortcomings in spatial planning.

“We tried to point out that the planned transmission line passes through the zone of strict protection of NP Durmitor and the second zone of NP Lovćen and additionally passes through four Emerald areas (Lovćen, Durmitor, the rivers Komarnica and Tara) as future Natura 2000 areas, and that the planned corridor and route violates the provisions of the Law on Nature Protection, " Kovacevic told CIN-CG.

According to her, the alternative was not chosen because avoiding the Lovćen National Park would be 18 kilometers longer and 7.74 million more expensive, and in the case of the Durmitor National Park, that would mean an additional 29 kilometers and 8.35 million euros.

Kovačević emphasizes that the visual and landscape identity of Durmitor and the Tara River is especially endangered by the transmission line: "Classified as highly sensitive, intolerant of changes, and it was already clear that the combined 40-50 meters transmission line poles through Durmitor and the Tara River canyon would significantly jeopardize one of the most important criteria for declaring this area a UNESCO natural heritage site."

The route of the transmission line in two places cuts off the map of the Emerald zone of NP Lovćen, which can be seen from the study for the transmission line "Lastva - Čevo" from November 2014, which CIN-CG received under the Law on Free Access to Information. The study done for the needs of CGES was conducted by the "Medix" bureau whose founder and executive director is Ljiljana Vuksanović.

Biologist Vuk Iković, a representative of the organization KOD, also points out that the transmission line caused the loss of the visual identity of Lovćen, distorting, in addition to the landscape, the biological value of the park.

The KOD believes that, if national parks could not be bypassed, an underground cable should have been chosen. That would not be an exception, because about 5.5 kilometers of underground cable was laid from the Adriatic coast to the converter station in Lastva.

"Maybe some other country would have a justification for not using the underground cable, but not Montenegro since it is defined by the Constitution as an ecological state. Our state should be covered by forests, not cables, cords, and pipes," Ikovic told CIN-CG.

CGES told CIN-CG that the option of laying underground cables in combination with an overhead transmission line was considered, but that such a solution "in addition to introducing disturbances, i.e. significant problems in the operation of the transmission system, is also avoided in international practice."

"Such a way of building the transmission lines would be economically unprofitable, especially having in mind the configuration of the terrain, i.e. mountain topography and forests, where the works on laying the underground cable would be far more complex, extensive, accompanied by mining, which would have a much greater impact on the environment and society as a whole,” CGES claims.

During the selection of the corridor, as pointed out by CGES in the answers to the CIN-CG's questions, care was taken to bypass protected areas, avoid fragmentation of national parks, as well as to use the routes of the existing 110-kilovolt transmission lines as much as possible.

The EBRD document states that the route of the transmission line in some parts of the Lovćen National Park is up to 100 meters wide. Ikovic points out that the harmful consequences most often occur "at a distance of one kilometer from the route itself". He says that building of a transmission line or a road prevents part of the animals from reaching the feeding ground or breeding area. Certain species must be exposed to the sun to move from one part of the forest to another which may be "fatal for many of them." But it not clear what consequences it may have, because in the Study on the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Transmission Line Čevo - Pljevlja, Iković points out, it is written that it has not been investigated in detail.

"If you do not know with great certainty the state of nature, then you cannot even know how a transmission line will affect the animal world and what measures should be prescribed to reduce the negative impact. The doctor cannot prescribe you medication before making a diagnosis ", Iković warns.

Some forest species that are active during the day must cross the cleared area and be directly exposed to the sun. This is fatal for species that lose water quickly such as amphibians.

Ikovic points out that, for example, salamanders are on the list of protected animals in Montenegro and are highly sensitive to temperature changes.

"If the cleared area passes through the reproductive center of the salamander population (e.g. ponds or puddle), then that species will disappear from that locality because there is no place to lay eggs. A similar thing happens if the route in the form of a barrier prevents salamanders from reaching the pond," Ikovic said.

Nature was not taken into account when the transmission line was built, but, in Iković's opinion, it was designed "according to petty-own interests".

He reminds that national parks, in addition to natural wealth, also have a strong tourist dimension. According to official data, all five were visited by 600,000 people last year, mostly Durmitor.

Ornithologist Bojan Zekovic from the Center for Protection and Research of Birds (CZIP) also told CIN-CG that he is additionally concerned because "the area of Jezerska Površ (Plateau of Lakes) on Durmitor, especially around Bara Zugića, is important for the migration of predators," which are also the high-risk group due to the possibility of death from electric shock or collision with installations.

Zekovic says that further monitoring is necessary to see which species are most endangered and in which parts, but he also suggests the installation of jammers and insulators.

Cecilia Calatrava, a communication specialist at EBRD, told CIN-CG that during the route selection they agreed on "measures with CGES to reduce the consequences in the NP, including local analyzes for setting up poles and timing for construction works that are out of the season of nesting and mating birds."

Unlike the environmental organizations Green Home, KOD, CZIP, and others, the Public Enterprise National Parks claims for CIN-CG that the entire transmission line route goes through the third zone of both parks, which, according to the Law on Nature Protection implies that settlements and accompanying infrastructure can be built.

Considering that Terna, instead of a 1200MW submarine cable, installed half as small, economist Dejan Mijović believes that the existing high-voltage transmission network, built with the support of the World Bank in the 1970s, and which connects all countries of the former Yugoslavia, can service all electricity trade of Montenegro and its neighbors with Italy.

"CGES's investment in the construction of the Lastva transformer station and its connection to the existing transmission network was rational and justified. However, the construction of a new transmission line to Pljevlja and the destruction of national parks was unnecessarily rushed after the Italian Terna gave up laying the second core of the 600MW cable, without any guarantee that it would do so in the foreseeable future. Therefore, it would be most rational for CGES and Montenegro to immediately stop further construction of the transmission line and the use of the unspent part of the EBRD loan. Even if the Italian partner changes its mind in the meantime, a part of the transmission line should be dismantled, which completely devastated our most beautiful natural areas and endangered the survival of the local population, because it made them unsuitable for the development of rural tourism. In any case, it is necessary to carry out a detailed cost-benefit analysis of alternative construction options, i.e. the possibility of bypassing or laying an underground cable through the most vulnerable areas, as this has never been done properly. I am convinced that such an analysis would show that there is a solution whose benefits for society would be significantly greater than the slightly increased construction costs," Mijovic said in an interview with CIN-CG.

He reminds that Terna's initial motive was to enable the import of cheap electricity from the region because it could be sold at higher prices in Italy. They counted on large imports from existing and newly built production facilities in the region, not just green energy, which required a 1,200MW cable.

"They gave up when they realized things were not going according to plan, that numerous, market-competitive solar and wind power plants (financially viable without state subsidies) were being built in Italy, while Montenegro and other countries in the region were not realizing planned investments in expensive and unprofitable thermal and hydropower plants ", Mijović said.

Terna did not answer CIN-CG's questions about whether and when another submarine cable is expected to be installed, and CGES said that it was "primarily related to the future needs of the electricity market in both the Balkans and the Apennine Peninsula."  Referring to the executive director of TERNA, Luigi Ferraris, the Italian media announced that the second cable can be expected only in 2026-2027.

CGES previously told CIN-CG that the works on the construction of the transmission line through the Durmitor National Park have not started yet, except for the preparations for cutting down the forest on the access roads and the transmission line route on the territory of Zabljak. The COVID-19 pandemic, they point out, has partially slowed down the works, but they will try to finish them on time.

"The plan envisages that the works on the construction of the TL Čevo - Pljevlja will be completed by the end of 2021," it was stated in the response from CGES.

The total budget of the transmission line project is around 106 million euros. As of 2019, more than 95 million euros have been spent. The construction of the "Lastva-Čevo" section amounted to about 31, while about 40 million euros were allocated for the "Čevo-Pljevlja" part.

Through the estate, no matter what

The persistence of CGES to pass the transmission line through national parks will affect citizens as well. Radomir Martinović from Cetinje goes to Ulcinj every other day to get milk to make and then sell cheese. He had moved a herd of cows from the Lovćen National Park to the south after transmission lines were installed over his property.

On the estate, a few kilometers before a popular picnic spot Ivanova korita, in addition to two houses, Martinovic also has an unfinished motel. The problems, he claims, started when the commission of the Real Estate Administration, composed of four court experts, determined that "there should not be residential or other construction facilities in the corridor of this section of the transmission line".

After Martinovic's complaint, the same commission noted three months later that "transmission lines diagonally divide arable agricultural land and the small part of land remains on the southwest side, with a family house and an auxiliary facility."

The document of the commission of the Real Estate Administration from mid-July 2013, which CIN-CG had access to, states the concern "that there is a possibility that electric and magnetic fields adversely affect human health, because they encourage the development of malignant diseases, leukemia in children, to destroy the body's immune system, create suicidal instincts in people who stay longer in the transmission line zone ".

The Commission assessed that CGES should consider the possibility of relocating the transmission line route. Martinović says that his relatives offered the transmission lines to cross their properties. CGES told CIN-CG, however, that in 2017 they analyzed how to avoid Martinovic's property, but, "unfortunately, neither the owner nor his neighbors and relatives showed readiness to accept a compromise solution."

“… A fair compensation for the real estate which is the subject of expropriation has also been considered, but Mr. Martinovic did not agree with the proposed one,” the state-owned company said.

Martinović points out that they offered him about a quarter of a million, but that foreign experts estimated that his property was worth three million euros. He would be satisfied with two million, to buy another land, build a motel and continue the family business with his sons.

No agreement was reached, and CGES explains that based on the decisions of the Real Estate Administration and the Basic Court in Cetinje, it installed a transmission line over the property "as provided by the Detailed Spatial Plan (DSP) and the issued building permit, because the landowner did not allow any works ”.

The KOD organization, which has dealt with this and several other cases, says that CGES did not approach the compensation of the local population on a fair basis.

"In 2017 alone, CGES earned 34.7 million euros with a profit of 4.7 million euros. They offered the family we had contact with 2.3 euros per square meter, although the expert's report says that the possibility of use will be significantly reduced. In the vicinity, the land is sold for over 20 euros per square meter ", Iković said.

The maximum capacity

According to CGES data, from the commissioning of the submarine cable until the end of August, including transit through the Montenegrin system, 916,631.59 MWh was imported from Italy, while 916,641.03 MWh was exported to that country.

Despite significant challenges and disruptions in the electricity market with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, the results so far not only support the thesis of the cost-effectiveness of the submarine cable project but also exceed the company's expectations, CGES said, pointing out that they "regardless of when the second core will be laid", received at their disposal a part of the capacity of the submarine cable of 200 MW, which was defined at the beginning of the project.

Based on the data on the site, it can be seen that a maximum cable transmission capacity of 600 MW was often used.

“Revenues of transmission system operators come from the allocation of cross-border transmission capacities. CGES earned € 4,435,201.93 at the auctions of cross-border capacity allocation on the border with Italy, while in the first nine months of this year, the revenue from the allocation of cross-border capacity with Italy was € 3,755,552.57,” the CGES stated.

Miloš RUDOVIĆ