The construction of new transmission lines of 400 kV which will connect Macedonia and Serbia has started in Stip. The investment is worth 10MEUR, and transmission line route is 70 kilometres long. So far it is the largest investment in the system for the electricity transmission in Stip.
According to Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the project will be completed by the middle of next year and it will provide additional energy security in Macedonia.
– There are situations when significant energy import or additional electricity export is needed. In any case, this project will mean increased energy stability in Serbia and Macedonia, but also in other countries in the region, which at a certain point have a need for electricity transmission – said Macedonian Prime Minister during a tour of the construction work.
The new line, 70 kilometres long, including 168 steel lattice towers, will extend from Stip to Macedonian-Serbian border, near Kumanovo.
Preparations for transmission line building have officially begun in July this year. In TSO company MEPSO say that the transmission line will be of immense strategic importance for the energy system because it will establish a connection to the power supply with Serbia, which will increase the capacity of electricity transmission and the reliability of the power system at the regional level.
The substation in Stip is the largest investment in the system for the electricity transmission in eastern Macedonia in the last 70 years, with an investment of 13 MEUR that will be needed for investment in the region over the next 20 years.
The substation was put into operation in 2010th and it is not important only for Eastern Macedonia, but also for the free economic zone near Stip.
Transmission line of 400 kilovolts will enable the linking of electricity transmission system of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the substation in Stip. With the construction of new transmission lines to the Macedonian-Serbian border, substation Stip will become an important energy hub of the Macedonian transmission system MEPSO, where will be connected Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian transmission system.