Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi announced that the Government of North Macedonia has declared a state of emergency in the energy sector for a period of 30 days.
Minister Bekteshi said that the decision was made based on an assessment that there is a risk of electricity shortages, due to limited domestic production capacity and increased electricity prices in foreign markets. The only measure that results from the decision to declare a state of emergency is injecting money into state-owned energy companies (power utility ESM and electricity transmission system operator MEPSO) in order to stabilize the situation on the electricity market and ensure stable supply of electricity in the country.
In related news, all three units of coal-fired thermal power plant Bitola are out of operation since the evening of 7 November, when fire broke at one of the transformers of unit 3. TPP Bitola provides about 70 % of electricity production in North Macedonia.
