North Macedonia is preparing a combined battery-storage and grid-digitalisation investment of around €119 million, signalling that the country’s energy transition is shifting from replacing coal generation towards building the flexibility needed to operate without it.
The larger component is a proposed 100 MW/400 MWh standalone battery at Bitola, with total project cost estimated at about €98 million.
The package also includes SCADA, trading, generation-planning and cybersecurity systems.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering lending up to €33.1 million for the project.
A separate €21 million programme for transmission operator MEPSO would introduce a new central SCADA/EMS platform, cybersecurity systems and a 400 kV transformer.
That project is expected to receive around €18.6 million of EBRD financing and a €2.4 million WBIF grant.
Both projects remain under review rather than financially closed.
But together they point to a clear strategic direction.
From generation replacement to system control
North Macedonia’s power system remains heavily influenced by lignite generation, particularly around Bitola.
Replacing coal with wind and solar changes the system’s operating requirements.
Thermal plants provide dispatchable output and system stability.
Wind and solar do not.
A 400 MWh battery can help bridge that gap by shifting renewable electricity across hours and providing fast-response balancing services.
The grid-digitalisation programme is equally important.
Storage cannot create full value without a system capable of forecasting generation, monitoring flows and dispatching flexible assets efficiently.
New SCADA and EMS infrastructure therefore becomes part of the same investment case.
The projects also arrive as North Macedonia expands renewable generation.
The country recently secured financing for the first phase of the large Štip wind development, adding another major variable-generation asset to the pipeline.
That means storage and grid control are becoming more urgent.
The proposed Bitola battery is particularly symbolic.
A location historically associated with coal could become one of the country’s most important flexibility hubs.
If completed, it would allow North Macedonia to preserve grid reliability while increasing renewable penetration and reducing reliance on imported electricity during tight periods.
The next phase of the country’s energy transition will therefore be measured less by how quickly coal capacity disappears and more by how quickly flexibility replaces the services that coal plants currently provide.
