The Government of North Macedonia recommended to the electricity transmission system operator MEPSO to turn to commercial banks for obtaining loans to maintain liquidity during the energy crisis.
Director of MEPSO Orhan Murtezani said that the recommendation came after the operator turned to the Government asking for more funds. He said that MEPSO will not be able to obtain loans from the commercial banks due to the level of its indebtedness.
In early November 2021, the Government declared a 30-days state of emergency in the energy sector. In addition to extremely high prices of electricity on exchanges, North Macedonia has serious problem with electricity supply due to frequent unavailability of its primary source of electricity – coal-fired thermal power plant Bitola, as well as low water levels at accumulations. The state of emergency was later extended until June 2022.
Therefore, in order to cover domestic demand, state-owned power utility ESM was forced to buy electricity through tender as prices ranging from 250 to 300 euros/MWh. One of the measures proposed by the Government is resuming production at oil-fired TPP Oslomej, which has been in cold reserve for some 12 years. The Government provided some 65 million euros in support to ESM and MEPSO.
