Draft regulations discussed for Macedonia to introduce prosumers, premiums for PV, wind energy projects

A public debate was organized in Skopje on November 8 to discuss a draft rulebook and a draft decree to regulate the sector of renewable energy sources over the coming period, including prosumers and tendering procedures with electronic reverse auctions to award premiums to investors seeking to build PV and wind energy capacities.

The draft regulations on renewables, accompanying Macedonia’s new energy law, passed in May, have been prepared by US Agency for International Development (USAID) consultants for the Ministry of Economy and the office of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Koco Angjusev, according to reports.

At the public debate on the premises of the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, which was attended by energy experts, businesspeople, and potential investors, Angjusev said that the draft rulebook introduces prosumers, which, as he explained, means that households, small businesses, and budget beneficiaries, in addition to being electricity consumers, can also install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems or small wind turbines to generate power.

Prosumers would be able to sell surplus electricity on the market, though participants in the public debate raised certain objections concerning the envisaged rules and prices for the purchase of prosumers’ excess electricity.

Auctions to award premiums for PV, wind energy projects

The draft regulations envisage launching tendering procedures with electronic reverse auctions for premiums to be awarded to investors in PV and wind energy facilities, with the award criterion to be the lowest requested subsidy. State-owned locations for the potential PV and wind projects of 10 MW or more, but also of between 1 MW and 3 MW, have already been designated and they will be provided with connections to the distribution or transmission network.

The draft regulations also envisage options to award premiums for projects on plots of land other than those owned by the state, according to a news release from the Economic Chamber of Macedonia.

According to Aleksandar Dedinec of USAID, as quoted by Vecer, feed-in tariffs will remain in place for hydropower plants (HPPs) of up to 10 MW, wind farms of up to 50 MW, and biomass and biogas-fired facilities of up to 1 MW, while premiums are envisaged for wind farms of up to 50 MW and PV power stations with an installed capacity of up to 30 MW.

Dedinec also discussed prosumers, noting that households should not install PV systems of more than 4 kW and small businesses and budget beneficiaries of more than 20 kW.

18.2% renewables share achieved in 2016

In 2016, FYR Macedonia achieved only an 18.2% share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, instead of its 24.6% median trajectory for 2015-2016, according to the Energy Community Secretariat’s latest Annual Implementation Report.

In 2017, the country had a total of 753 MW in renewables capacities, including large hydropower capacities of 585 MW, small hydropower capacities of 107 MW, wind energy capacities of 37 MW, solar energy capacities of 17 MW, and biogas capacities of 7 MW, according to the Ministry of Economy’s data cited by the report.