Electricity

North Macedonia’s ESM to subsidize purchase of inverter air conditioners with EUR 10 million

inverter air conditioners

Photo: Zoran Zaev (Government of North Macedonia)

Published

October 11, 2019

Country

Comments

0

Share

Published:

October 11, 2019

Country:

Comments:

0

Share

North Macedonia’s state-owned power company Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM) has set aside EUR 10 million in subsidies for the purchase of inverter air conditioners as part of the government’s Clean Air Plan, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has announced.

ESM has set aside the EUR 10 million for the first program phase, with 10,000 households in the most polluted Macedonian cities – Bitola, Kičevo, Tetovo, and Skopje – to receive EUR 1,000 each to help them buy inverter air conditioners and stop burning fuels with high CO2 and harmful particulate matter (PM) emissions, according to the Government of North Macedonia.

Photo: 10,000 households in the most polluted Macedonian cities will receive EUR 1,000 each to help them buy inverter air conditioners (Government of North Macedonia)

These fuels include wood, coal, and oil, which people burn in inefficient furnaces and stoves, contributing to major pollution levels in winter months.

A study conducted by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) as part of a twinning project with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning has confirmed that 90% of PM emissions in North Macedonia is caused by heating.

Subsidies for the procurement of high-efficiency inverter air conditioners will be handed to 5,200 households in Skopje, Europe’s most polluted city, 2,500 households in Bitola, 1,500 households in Tetovo, and 800 households in Kičevo.

Environmental activists, however, took to Twitter to warn that it would be more appropriate for the Energy Efficiency Fund to finally start functioning than to award subsidies for the procurement of inverter air conditioning, whose use benefits the electricity market.

Davor Pehchevski of CEE Bankwatch Network said that a large amount of money will be disbursed in only four cities and end up in the pockets of a few home appliance vendors, without so much as analyzing whether this would be a discriminatory measure or whether it would distort the market.

Skopje has already undertaken a number of measures over air pollution, such as supplying classrooms with air purifiers.

Data concerning mean concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 for 2018, published earlier by the World Health Organization (WHO), rank Skopje as Europe’s most polluted capital city, with PM2.5 values four times the recommended levels.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

Croatian Chamber of Economy lex specialis for renewables position paper

Croatian Chamber of Economy asks for lex specialis for renewable energy sector

28 March 2024 - The Association for Renewable Energy Sources produced a position paper identifying obstacles and possible solutions

romania delgaz hydrogen 20HyGrid

Romania successfully tests blending hydrogen in natural gas distribution grid, households

28 March 2024 - E.ON Romania declared success in its test of blending hydrogen into the gas network and using the mixture in households.

IRENA-Global-solar-power-capacity-surpasses-hydropower-in-2023

IRENA: Global solar power capacity surpasses hydropower in 2023

28 March 2024 - The world's renewable electricity capacity additions in 2023 hit a record 473 GW, dominated by China. Solar power became the largest segment in total.

aleksander mervar eles krsko solar slovenija

Mervar: Electricity from Krško 2 nuclear project won’t be cheaper then EUR 125 per MWh

27 March 2024 - CEO of Slovenia's TSO ELES Aleksander Mervar said gas power plants need to be built to prevent the need for large electricity imports