North Macedonia’s former deputy PM builds 8 MW solar power plant

Companies controlled by former Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia Kocho Angjushev installed a solar power plant of 8 MW near Kočani in the country’s east. At the same time, the family of former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev established its second solar power firm.

One of the biggest solar power plant in North Macedonia has started regular operations. The owner is Central invest while the 8 MW system was built by Fero invest, both controlled by Kocho Angjushev. “Our companies Akvavat, Feroinvest and EMS executed everything from project design to commissioning in 11 months,” he said on LinkedIn. EMS stands for Energy Maintenance Solutions.

Angjushev is the president of the Macedonian Energy Association within the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia and a professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Skopje. He was deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Zoran Zaev and was involved in numerous deals and partnerships in the renewables sector at the time.

Investment is worth EUR 7.2 million

Major consumers are looking for domestic sources of electricity, either from state-owned Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM) or from private producers, as it is cheaper than from imports, Central invest said. It added the new solar power plant would produce 15.1 GWh per year, equivalent to the consumption of 3.150 North Macedonian households.

The Trkanje facility is located on 19 hectares near Kočani in the country’s east. Central invest revealed the investment is worth EUR 7.2 million. The electricity will be sold through company RES (Renewable Energy Supply) to domestic companies at fixed prices, it added.

Executive role for former PM’s brother

Investigative journalism outfit IRL earlier found Angjushev’s connections with RES, formerly Solarpro holding Skopje. Of note, Solarpro Holding from Sofia is about to build a large solar power plant on a former coal pit in Oslomej within a public-private partnership. The country’s former deputy prime minister also runs small hydropower plants.

Former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has close links to the solar power industry. His brother Vice Zaev has just become the head of a new company called Solar grin enerdži (solar green energy), owned by their father Panče and registered for electricity production, Faktor reported. Zoran Zaev said in April that his young son Duško’s firm Total enerdži would build a 470 kW photovoltaic plant near Strumica, the former PM’s birthplace. Both firms are registered there.