North Macedonia’s MEMO launches domestic day-ahead power market

The first session at the North Macedonian electricity exchange was completed without any glitches. The domestic day-ahead platform is operated by the country’s regulatory body MEMO. It is envisaged as one of the key elements of a future Western Balkans energy market, integrating into the European internal market.

Chief Executive Officer of the National Electricity Market Operator MEMO Simon Shutinoski said the first day of trading at the day-ahead power exchange in North Macedonia went smoothly. The average price landed at MKD 7,125 per MWh (EUR 115.74 per MWh), very close to the levels achieved elsewhere in the region and Europe, he stressed.

Twenty out of 22 participants bought and sold a total of 500 MWh, Shutinoski pointed out. The price reflects the domestic demand and supply, he noted. The bourse will cover only the national day-ahead market, until the first market coupling with an exchange in a neighboring country.

The launch will encourage investors in renewable energy production, in the CEO’s view. The fees and annual membership are the lowest in the region, Shutinoski said.

Power exchange contributes to energy system stability

The new market will contribute to the stability of the energy system, Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi said at the inauguration ceremony.

MEMO, the nominated electricity market operator or NEMO in short, is responsible for the rollout and operation of the exchange. Its introduction was enabled already in 2018 with the changes to the Law on Energy and formal liberalization.

Slovenian exchange operator BSP SouthPool was selected for clearing and settlement while EPEX Spot provided the trading platform.

The legal framework for the establishment of a power exchange was rolled out five years ago

As for the rest of the region, Montenegrin Power Exchange – MEPX or BELEN – launched its day-ahead market last month, right after Albanian Power Exchange, ALPEX.

Serbia’s SEEPEX has just delayed the start of trading at its intraday electricity market for July. The bourse’s operator merged late last year with Slovenian BSP SouthPool into Alpine-Adriatic Danube Power Exchange – ADEX, and there is a possibility that Hungarian HUPX would join them. Until recently, SEEPEX was the only operational power exchange in the Western Balkans.

Government urged to adopt EU’s electricity market package

The establishment of the North Macedonian bourse is a major step forward in the country’s energy markets, providing clear and transparent pricing signals for renewable energy investment, according to the Energy Community Secretariat. It highlighted the support that it provided in the establishment of the day-ahead market, in the form of technical assistance. It was part of a broader initiative to create a regional energy market in the Western Balkans, funded by the European Union, the statement reads.

The Energy Community’s adoption of the new electricity legislation package in December provided the necessary legal framework for the integration of the contracting parties’ electricity wholesale markets into the European internal market, the secretariat noted. For North Macedonia, integration hinges on the transposition and implementation of the package by the end of the year, according to the international organization based in Vienna.

Here is the list of participants in the day-ahead electricity market: