North Macedonia’s regulator issues 200 licenses for renewable electricity plants in 2022

North Macedonia’s regulator ERC issued around 200 licenses so far this year for the production of electricity from renewable sources or four times more than in 2021 overall. The combined capacity of the added facilities is equivalent to the electricity needs of 27,100 households.

The number of licenses issued since the beginning of the year for power plants that use renewable sources is already four times higher than for entire 2021, according to the Energy and Water Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic of North Macedonia (ERC).

The panel approved about 200 requests in 2022, compared to 48 last year. The estimated average annual production from this year’s additions is 95.7 megawatts-hours (MWh), ERC said. It added that it can meet the needs of 27,100 households in the country.

All the power plants that received the permits are connected to the power distribution network

ERC noted that all power plants that received the permits are connected to the power distribution network.

Increase in new capacities

Total capacity of photovoltaic plants licensed since the beginning of the year amounts to 86.8 MW. ERC also issued permits for small hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 6.4 MW and another 2.5 MW for biogas power plants.

In 2021, total new additions had 14.2 MW in capacity, of which 14 MW were solar power plants. It was two times more than in the previous year.

Photovoltaics for reduced costs

“During the sunny periods and days, these consumers who have installed photovoltaic power plants mostly satisfy their own needs and therefore do not need to purchase electricity from the electricity supplier and pay for it,” ERC’s President Marko Bislimoski said.

In the time of the energy crisis, he added, private investments proved to be the solution for many businesses.

Bislimoski said that installing photovoltaic power plants significantly reduced the cost of electricity, Nova Makedonija reported.

The commission noted that the 95 MW in renewables licensed this year is higher than the capacity of the Kozjak hydroelectric plant.