Despite pledging to become the first coal-free country in the Western Balkans, North Macedonia has repeatedly pushed back the deadline.
A cloud of thick smoke continually escapes from the Bitola coal-fired power plant.
North Macedonia has two coal-fired power plants: REK Bitola and REK Oslomej. 47% of the country’s electricity is produced by the combustion of “dirty” lignite extracted from huge open-air mines, located near coal-fired power stations built around forty years ago. According to Pece Matevski, director of REK Bitola, another coal mine should even open soon.
North Macedonia had intended to phase out coal by 2027. But the energy crisis prompted the country of 2 million people to change its plans. It is now only planned to abandon coal by 2030.
In the capital, Skopje, Nevena Smilevska is in charge of the energy transformation campaign at the NGO CEE Bankwatch. She is concerned about the impact of further delays on the country’s potential membership of the European Union.
“The closure date must remain set at 2030. It is unlikely that we will be allowed to ignore the European Green Deal”she explains.
“If EU accession takes place, we will have to close the power plants first”she adds.
Highest SO2 emissions in the Western Balkans
As lignite reserves are running out, the country must import coal from neighboring countries. A heavy dependence on fossil fuels which does not improve air quality.
In 2022, the Bitola coal-fired power plant recorded the highest sulfur dioxide (SO2) and dust emissions in the Western Balkans region. 111,000 tonnes of SO2 were emitted, 17 times more than allowed.
However, the country’s average of 280 days of sunshine provides ideal conditions for solar energy production. 120 km from Skopje, at North Macedonia’s oldest coal-fired power plant, Oslomej, energy production is about to change. Solar power plants are in fact built above the open-air lignite mine.
However, the director of the photovoltaic plant has been waiting for a year and a half for his electricity to be injected into the network.
“We are still waiting for authorizations from the authorities”explains Cedomir Arsouski.
However, the recent agreement reached at COP28 could accelerate North Macedonia’s energy transition.
International lenders have announced they will finance a 3 billion euro plan to completely close the country’s coal-fired power plants by 2030 and replace them with units powered by solar, hydro, wind and gas.
The ambition is to ensure a “just transition”, by deploying 1.7 gigawatts of renewable energy and increasing energy storage capacities while improving connections to the network. Will North Macedonia’s ecological ambition be achieved this time?