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.