The governing board of the Climate Investment Funds, a climate fund delivering low-cost finance to over 70 developing countries, approved an $85 million investment plan presented by the Government of North Macedonia to transition away from coal.
With this approval, CIF delivers the first funding window as part of Macedonia’s Just Energy Transition Investment Platform, launched at COP28. This platform includes a coal phase-out in North Macedonia by 2030, in line with the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.
At full implementation, the country’s ACT investment plan will generate almost 1:7 co-financing by 2030, with over $591 million to be invested by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank Group, and the public and private sectors.
Macedonia could save over 13 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2038 with this plan. CIF funding is expected to enable 400 MW of additional installed renewable energy capacity and 100MW of energy storage to ensure energy security. The country will invest in human capital, promoting skills development and access to alternative livelihoods to ensure a just transition with an estimated 3,000 direct beneficiaries.
Currently, the country is heavily reliant on energy imports and its two coal-fired thermal power plants (Bitola and Oslomei). These plants are significant contributors to pollution, emitting around 2.7 million tonnes of CO2, over 113,000 tonnes of SO2, and more than 4,000 tonnes of dust annually. The ACT investment plan will support the Government in accelerating the retirement of 824 MW of existing coal power generation at the Bitola and Oslomei power plants and diverting over 4.5 MT of coal. Coal mine areas totalling 2,707 Ha will be reclaimed, restored, or reforested.
North Macedonia’s CIF funding is part of the $2.2bn Accelerating Coal Transition investment program, a multilateral platform supporting a just transition away from coal and toward clean energy utilizing concessional finance in key middle-income countries.
