Electricity

Macedonia, Bulgaria ink MoU to develop regulatory basis for day-ahead market coupling

Photo: Ministry of Energy of Bulgaria

Published

May 22, 2018

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

May 22, 2018

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on electricity day-ahead market coupling, as part of plans to complete the coupling in the second quarter of 2019.

The MoU, inked by Macedonian Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi and Bulgarian Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova, is aimed at creating “an equal legal and regulatory basis” for day-ahead market coupling between the two countries “under non-discriminatory and fair conditions,” the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy said in a press release.

“One of the goals of the initiative is for our country to join the internal electricity market in South-East Europe (SEE) in order to offer market participants new business opportunities for cross-border trade in order to achieve efficiency, competitive prices and higher standards of services,” said Bekteshi, according to a press release from the Macedonian Ministry of Economy.

The memorandum was signed in the presence of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, (both pictured) under the auspices of the WB6 energy connectivity initiative facilitated by the Energy Community’s Secretariat.

“This is the first concrete step towards regional electricity market coupling. Yet to make this first step truly meaningful, legal and regulatory barriers in both the Energy Community Contracting Parties and EU Member States must be removed,” said Secretariat Deputy Director Dirk Buschle, who took part in the signing ceremony, according to a press release from the Secretariat. “All stakeholders must make continuous efforts to ensure the full implementation of the Third Energy Package network codes and guidelines and conclude the Energy Community Treaty reform process,” he added.

The signature was preceded by an MoU on the coupling of the two day-ahead markets, finalized between the two countries’ transmission system operators, power exchanges, and regulatory authorities, the Secretariat recalled.

The previous MoU was signed in April Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) EAD, Electricity Transmission System Operator (TSO) of Macedonia (MEPSO), the Energy Regulatory Commission of Macedonia and the Electricity System Operator (ESO) EAD of Bulgaria.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment

Related Articles

Electrify Europe – to be competitive and sustainable, the EU needs to speed up electrification

Electrify Europe – to be competitive and sustainable, the EU needs to speed up electrification

27 May 2025 - As Europe grapples with sluggish economic growth and soaring energy costs, electrification has emerged as the linchpin for reversing industrial decline, accelerating decarbonisation, and restoring global competitiveness

memo first guarantees of origin esm

North Macedonia issues first guarantees of origin for renewables

27 May 2025 - The first guarantees of origin were awarded to state power utility ESM, for electricity produced from hydropower.

Largest battery storage system in Balkans commissioned in Bulgaria Lovech

Largest battery storage system in Balkans commissioned in Bulgaria

26 May 2025 - A BESS facility of 124.1 MW was inaugurated in Lovech in Bulgaria, next to a photovoltaic park in the local industrial zone

mickoski cebren hydropower plants

North Macedonia in talks on project to build two hydropower plants

26 May 2025 - The construction of hydropower plants Čebren and Galište is expected to cost between EUR 1.2 billion and EUR 1.3 billion