North Macedonia is getting ahead on the path to energy transition out of coal

06.08.2024 - 01:33 / euronews.com

Authorities in North Macedonia are getting ahead with the green agenda to transition out of coal, the main energy resource of the country.

With one of the country's main coal-fired thermal power plants, the state-owned power company Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM), providing two-thirds of North Macedonia's electricity needs, many of North Macedonia's cities are listed among the ten most polluted in Europe, particularly during the winter.

Converting the two thermal facilities in Bitola and Negotino from coal and fuel oil is part of the country’s strategy to phase out coal and other fossil fuels.

Following the obligations undertaken under the green agenda of the European integration process, work has now commenced to transform one of the thermal power plants and adapt it to renewable energy sources by 2032.

"We have already invested in photovoltaic power plants in this region and in other regions of the country. But this is not enough to provide the energy that is now provided by this thermal plant'' says Dragan Vidanovski, a consultant on energy efficiency.

"That is why the construction of several mini nuclear power plants is planned. That is our perspective", explains Vidanovski.

Last week, North Macedonia signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which will provide it with 26.4 million euros that should support the energy transition according to the Green Agenda.

Within these funds, the creation of an educational centre is planned, which will help the state provide the human resources necessary for the management of the new energy systems.

"There should be energy scientists, physicists, and nuclear physicists, as well as IT engineers because the whole system will be managed through computers. I hope that this centre will provide that personnel," Dragan Vidanovski, a consultant on energy efficiency, says.

Parallel to the transformation of the energy infrastructural capacities, North Macedonia will have to invest in opening up new green jobs that would neutralise the shock from the eventual closure of the ESM thermal power plant, which currently provides 2500 jobs.

In December, the government said it would prepare an investment plan for a coal phaseout by 2032, grid strengthening, new capacities, and the transition of its two coal regions.