Interview: a transition people can trust?

Monika, in the context of the Energy Community Secretariat, what does a just transition mean? 

Monika: A just transition is a comprehensive, well-managed, planned and monitored change. It has to address several transformations at once: in the energy sector, in the region’s economic development, and in social impacts, where some people lose jobs but gain the chance of obtaining new ones. It’s also about bringing people back to regions that are being depopulated because young people see no future there. A just transition means the young generation regaining hope in the places they are often currently leaving. 

 

Ivan, what does it mean for EPCG, and for Pljevlja in particular? 

Ivan: From my perspective as head of Investment and Development at EPCG, it is both a challenge and an opportunity. 

The challenge is making it truly just. Our thermal power plant in Pljevlja covers up to 40% of Montenegro’s electricity production, and more in dry years. But this is a social issue as much as an energy one. The plant has operated for over 40 years, and together with the coal mine it employs around 1,500 people.  

Today’s geopolitical turbulence makes planning and committing to targets very difficult, but the government has committed in the National Energy and Climate Plan to phase out Pljevlja by 2041. Plans look good on paper, but someone has to pay. The simplest option would be to put the burden on citizens, and we don’t want that. Our first job is to secure supply; the second is to keep electricity affordable for households and the economy. 

After years of feed-in tariffs, that means developing projects on a market basis, financed through corporate loans and able to compete. New renewables are now the cheapest form of new generation, and that is where the opportunity lies: wind, solar and battery storage. On 9 May we commissioned our 54.6 MW wind farm, financed at the corporate level with our strategic partner, the EBRD. It was hard work, but it shows what’s possible. Every new project is a piece of the same puzzle. 

 

The plant and mine employ 1,500 people. How do you make the transition fair for them? 

Ivan: Those 1,500 are only the direct employees. Counting related businesses, around 5,000 people in Pljevlja depend on the plant and the mine, which have anchored the town’s economy for decades. Those jobs can’t be replaced in a year; it will take many years. 

Five or ten years ago, saying “we want to close your power plant” felt like a declaration of war. Today people see real opportunities, though the fear hasn’t gone. I can’t promise we’ll be 100% successful, but we have to try. We are preparing a memorandum with the EBRD for new energy projects in Pljevlja: solar, batteries and new jobs. With KfW grant funding, we are also preparing EPCG’s first dedicated decarbonisation plan. And with support from the Energy Community and the European Commission, our teams have learned from coal regions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. 

There is no single solution. Renewables, market coupling, foreign investment and training for young people all have a role. 2041 may sound far away, but in energy, 15 years is tomorrow. The hardest part is keeping people believing in a future in the region. If you close something, you must offer real alternatives for the medium term, not just a few years. 

 

Monika, Ivan describes fear slowly giving way to opportunity. Across the Energy Community region, “just transition” often still carries a negative connotation. Why? 

Monika: When we talk directly to miners, many are sceptical because often they don’t see a planned, well-thought-out package on the table for them. That scepticism is entirely rational, and addressing it is the essence of a well-planned just transition. 

It’s also tricky because no transition can be certain that truly no one is left  behind. To claim that, you’d have to define who “everyone” is. The miner? His family? The local hairdresser who lives of cutting the miners hair? A relative in another region who depends on the miner’s income? What a just transition can do is create opportunities for energy workers, related businesses and families, so that those who need to change, and want to, can. 

Thus, this scepticism should be addressed and fear of change confronted by engaging all the stakeholders from the beginning. Just transition needs ownership and it should be owned by the stakeholders.  

And it's important to acknowledge that transitions can be reversed. A transition will only last if it accounts for everyone affected, including their fears and expectations. Right now there’s a lack of confidence that what’s being offered will actually be delivered, so we have to show possibilities that are well planned and realistic.

 

What is the Secretariat’s role in making that planning and financing happen? 

Monika: For planning, the backbone should be the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). They are becoming the main policy space where all actions should be anchored if they want to find funding. We have a legal mandate to review them, and the legislation provides for the just transition to be covered, where applicable. Some Contracting Parties prefer a separate just transition plan or roadmap. For them, we’ve issued non-binding guidelines recommending the same elements EU member states use, so the effort also brings them closer to EU practice. 

For financing, international grants are the easy answer, but there will never be enough to pay for everything, so domestic funding is essential. Carbon pricing can play a growing role. In the EU, revenues from the Emissions Trading System help fund the just transition, and with carbon pricing now emerging in our region, Contracting Parties can follow that example. 

 

Ivan, how much do plans like the NECP matter on the ground, when markets and geopolitics are so volatile? 

Ivan: They matter a great deal. Committing to a strategy is hard when markets went haywire in 2022 and regulated activities are still hit by two or three geopolitical crises at once. But the direction is clear. No one in Montenegro is opposing the goals, and that near-consensus matters. It’s a compromise: we need coal for energy security until a certain point, and we know we must work hard to replace it. 

From where we stand in 2026, I think we’re in a good starting position. With EU accession, I’m optimistic that opportunities will grow, including for private and foreign investors to partner with EPCG. But there’s a lot of work ahead. 

 

Monika mentioned carbon pricing as a source of funding. Can you give an example of how that works in practice? 

Ivan: Montenegro was the first country in the region to introduce a national CO2 fee, as part of EU accession. Our Eco Fund uses part of what we pay as a polluter to subsidise citizens’ rooftop solar through our Solari 3000+ and Solari 5000+ programmes, currently by 20%, sometimes more. 

EPCG is a one-stop shop. You apply, we offer interest-free financing and prepare the design, and a partner supplies and installs the panels. Monthly repayments equal your usual electricity bill, so you don’t feel the difference, and once they’re paid off, the panels are yours. We don’t profit from the financing. 

Around 10,000 households and small businesses have joined, adding over 100 MW and more than 120 GWh a year. In a country of 700,000 people with 1.1 GW of installed capacity, that’s almost 10%. It protects citizens from high prices and cuts our dependence on coal, and on expensive imports in dry years. 

Demand was so high we couldn’t process every application in real time, but I believe 100 MW could become 300 MW within two or three years. Next we want to add batteries and put solar on every hospital, school and government building. It’s not the whole answer, but for a utility it’s the best use of money we have to pay anyway: it goes back into green energy, moves fast, and stays in the country. 

 

Monika, why do spaces like the Just Transition Forum matter? 

Monika: Because they bring together people who rarely talk to each other. Ironically, I’ve seldom been to just transition events where miners were invited on stage. I value that the Secretariat doesn’t shy away from these voices, which are at the heart of the just transition and can also be at times controversial. 

We don’t necessarily share the same vision or agree on how to get there, but we talk, because a just transition won’t happen without hearing the people most affected. We don’t have everyone yet; we need more small businesses and more voices from the regions. But the Forum is a catalyst for an open, inclusive conversation that is a just transition starter. 

 

Have you seen progress, or a shift in mindset, since the Secretariat started this work? 

Monika: Yes. There’s growing awareness that the transition is unavoidable, because the region’s coal-dominated infrastructure is well past its expiry date. Reform agendas and long-term strategies increasingly address the just transition, and it’s becoming anchored in national debate.  That’s a positive sign. 

The real question is whether the change will be managed or not. We’ve seen failed cases in Europe where mines closed overnight with no planning leaving behind ghost towns. And in the region, we still need to see a shared vision: a common national plan, with coal phase-out dates, developed through in depth  consultation. That’s what we still have to work on.