Montenegro’s 2025 tender for 60 MW / 240 MWh of battery storage highlights the need to assess lifetime energy delivery, grid compliance and warranty performance alongside the initial EPC price. A low bid can bring greater long-term performance and financing risk if it provides less usable energy or fails to meet performance levels during the warranty period.
Material from EPCG puts the cost of Montenegro’s original procurement at around 48 million euros. Reported costs range from around 48 million euros to 58.8 million euros, depending on the project stage. The figures are not directly comparable without accounting for differences in scope.
Regional project costs reflect different scopes
Other projects in the region offer context, but are not directly comparable. HELLENiQ ENERGY’s project in Thessaloniki has 100 MW / 200 MWh of capacity and represents an investment of about 50 million euros. Bulgaria’s Tenevo project expansion is for 246 MW / 512.5 MWh and is backed by a 60 million euro financing package.
Connection works, warranties, co-located infrastructure and overall scope differ between the projects, affecting what each reported cost covers. Headline euros per kWh or initial capital expenditure alone therefore do not provide a consistent basis for ranking bids.
Assessing performance and delivery risks
Tenders should compare guaranteed usable MWh at commissioning and throughout the warranty period, as well as round-trip efficiency, auxiliary load, degradation and any augmentation obligations. They should also assess power conversion system capability, grid-code functions, fire protection, energy management system integration and spare-parts support.
A lower-priced bid that retains less capacity can have a higher lifetime cost per discharged MWh. Delayed commissioning may cause a project to miss a subsidy deadline, a grid reservation or the strongest early-market revenue window. The vendor’s financial strength also matters: a warranty has value only if the counterparty remains solvent and able to honour it.
For lenders, the preferred EPC package is not necessarily the cheapest. The priority is reducing uncertainty around lifetime cash generation and securing enforceable remedies for underperformance, together with demonstrated usable energy and compliance with grid requirements.