Green energy transition for North Macedonia with solar

• €25 million EBRD loan to build two large-scale solar power plants
• Expanding renewables redevelopment of coal mine sites will help country’s decarbonisation
• North Macedonia aims to generate 38 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2030

Macedonian plans for decarbonisation are making a big leap forward. The EBRD is lending €25 million to ESM, the state-owned electricity company, to build a 30 MW PV project consisting a 10MW on a portion of exhausted coalmine of TPP Oslomej, and a 20MW adjacent to TPP Bitola.

The new solar plants are an extension of the first 10MW PV plant constructed on the exhausted coalmines in Oslomej and are evidence of the decarbonisation pathway of ESM and the energy sector in North Macedonia. Once operational, the new PV plants will produce nearly 48 GWh a year of electricity, or enough to power 10,000 homes for an entire year, and displace 44,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year. It will also support ESM’s efforts to rehabilitate the mine sites that used to supply the TPPs with coal.

The country, whose capital Skopje was recently named one of Europe’s most polluted cities, aims to source 38 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Especially during the current energy crises, this operation will be one of the first projects that simultaneously addresses key Just Transition elements by moving towards clean energy, introducing re-training and re-skilling programs to safeguard livelihoods; and supporting regional development and the creation of new economic opportunities along with actions much needed to address energy security.

ESM, a public electricity generation utility owned by the Macedonian government, provides 90 per cent of the country’s domestic electricity production – about 3,600 GWh from two thermal power plants and 1,250 GWh from eight hydropower plants. ESM also operates two combined heat and power facilities and the first wind farm in the country, producing about 100 GWh annually.

Furthermore, in support of the decarbonisation and meeting the country’s renewable energy target, the EBRD provided technical assistance to support the regulatory and legal aspects of introducing RE auctions. It also launched three RE tenders for 162 MW combined solar PV capacity. The first tenders in the Western Balkan region to be developed with exposure to wholesale power prices, one is on public and one on private land, while the third is a PPP tender for 100 MW solar PV capacity on ESM’s former coal mine in Oslomej.

The EBRD Shareholders Special Fund (SSF) provided €75,000 for environmental and social due diligence and €74,000 for the development of basic design and technical specifications for the plants. The EBRD will support ESM with the development of a nationally accredited market-relevant curricula programme to define redeploying and retraining opportunities for a significant share of the affected local workforce, with an approximate budget of €200,000 to be funded from an international donor and SSF under the Gender and Economic Inclusion TC Framework.

To date, the EBRD has invested more than €2.2 billion in 160 projects in the Macedonian economy.