The small European country, North Macedonia, has declared a 30-day state of emergency over fuel and electricity shortages. The situation is so unstable that the government is ready to import enough supplies for production plants to cover the country’s power needs.
The tiny Balkan country produces about 88% of its electricity from domestic sources, mostly through coal-fired plants. More than 97% of total coal consumption is used to generate electricity. On Tuesday, the prime minister said that North Macedonia would provide emergency funding for state energy suppliers.
Economy Minister Kreshik Bekteshi echoed the PM’s words, saying such a hard decision was made due to “reduced domestic production capacities” and a global increase in electricity prices.
To avert the crisis, NM would provide €65 million to the MEPSO electricity company and two other enterprises to pay for electricity, coal, and oil imports, Bekteshi added.
The top energy official also promised that “there will be no restrictive measures”, but authorities have warned that there may be an electricity bill increase for domestic consumers in January.
MEPSO’s director Kustrim Ramadani had recently warned that North Macedonia faced an energy crisis because it “consumes twice as much as it produces”.
The North Macedonian authorities have recently opened tenders for the urgent import of 1.2 million tons of coal needed for the country’s power plants.
