FYR Macedonia

Country Profile

(.pdf file - 400 kB)

 

1. Overview

2. Policy and Incentives

 

3. Wind

4. Biomass

5. Solar

6. Geothermal

7. Hydroelectric

 

8. Links

9. References

10. Country Contacts

 

 

 

 

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia) is a landlocked country slightly larger than the state of Vermont. It is located on a major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to the Aegean Sea, and from Southern Europe to Western Europe. FYR Macedonia shares borders with Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia (Kosovo), and Montenegro.

The installed power generation capacity in Macedonia is approximately 1,450 MW, comprising of about 60 percent thermal and 40 percent hydro. There are seven large hydro plants in Macedonia with combined capacity of 480 MW, and several small hydro plants with total capacity around 50 MW.

The restructuring of the electricity market in the Macedonia is co-ordinated according to the terms and principles set forth in the EU Electricity Directive and the recent Athens Memorandum for establishment of a regional electricity market among the SE European countries. The initial new market model is under consideration along with an action program for development and introduction of new codes, rules and regulations required.

The Energy Regulatory Commission has been founded by the Macedonian Parliament in June 2003 as an independent body. The main duties of this commission will be: structuring and establishing the prices of regulated energy and services in the energy sector; quality regulation of services and definition of the conditions for access to the public energy infrastructure, introduction of licenses, setting up tariffs and regime for a regulated approach to capacity engagement; dispute settlement between companies or other parties regarding the shared energy resources and services that are under regulated regime, etc.

 

FYR Macedonia Country Summary Table

 

Macendonia’s Transmission System

 

(return to top)

The Government of Macedonia, like most countries of Eastern Europe and the Balkans aspiring to join the EU in due course, has followed a policy of seeking compatibility or harmonization with the EU. Its reforms and National Development Strategy have focused on the following objectives:

Speeding up privatization, restructure the economy and the energy sector and open up to foreign investment

·          Promote energy conservation and efficiency

·          Shift from electricity to gas heating: The target for 2000 has entailed adoption of natural gas as a medium of heating for 120,000 households

·          Eliminate energy subsidies so prices to reflect true costs

·          Establish a Regulatory Agency and Framework concerning the pricing system of purchases from independent power producers or the prices the independent power producers would pay for using the transmission network of (ESM)– the public Electricity Supply Company

(return to top)

The Electrical Power Company of Macedonia, ESM is interested in developing a measurement program to determine the potential for wind energy in Macedonia. Such a program would need to be put in place before it would be possible to estimate the financial viability of wind power in Macedonia.

Currently, there was is no direct information on wind energy available in this country. A country-wide wind atlas is not available.  However, in the neighboring Greece 336.7 MW of the licenses granted were for Macedonia-Thrace. Furthermore there is an interconnection between both countries, and Greece would be interested to buy wind power from FYR of Macedonia. Due to lack of information it is not possible to make a statement on Macedonia's potential for wind energy.

(return to top)

Macedonia currently acquires a reasonable amount of energy from biomass fuels.  The country’s official energy balance shows that in 2000 the total primary production of wood amounted to 8.7 TJ having a gross energy value of 8.6 TJ.  Gross inland consumption was slightly higher, about 8.9 million TJ due to small quantities of imports.

Allowing for relatively small quantities of wood as energy input in heating plants the net final energy consumption amounted to 8.55 million TJ.  By far the biggest users were households with about 7.6 million TJ.

The final wood-derived energy consumption of 8.5 million TJ in the year 2002 was equal to nearly 13 percent of the country’s total final energy consumption.

While the use of wood as a fire fuel in the traditional form is not likely to increase, there are prospects for a better utilization of forest output for energy purposes.  Better forest practices, reforestation, planting of deserted or marginal land could make a contribution, be it relatively small, to the further development of this sector.  Moreover, as burning wood in the traditional way is quite polluting, there will be pressures for switching to other cleaner sources of energy, which would release fuel wood resources.  This however, will be a slow process.

As far as exploitation of the residues of field crops, fruit tree plantations and livestock activities are concerned, there should be a significant potential for their collection and utilization, along with waste (incl. manures from intensive farms).  This could be done through incineration or anaerobic digestion technologies.  Special studies and surveys will have to be carried out to determine location, logistics, size of units, economics and viability.

 

FYR Macedonia Biomass Resource Data

Biomass resource type	Total production	Production density
Percent of total land area covered by
Forests	29%
Shrublands, savanna, and grasslands	0%
Cropland and crop/natural vegetation mosaic	68%
Urban and built-up areas	0%
Sparse or barren vegetation; snow and ice	0%
Wetlands and water bodies	2%
Primary crop production, tonne	(avg. 1999-2001, tonne)	(tonne /1000 Ha)
Total primary crops (rank among COO)	2,354,688  (27)	926  (18)
Top 10 primary crops
Alfalfa for Forage & Silage	413,000	162
Wheat	307,606	121
Grapes	241,400	95
Potatoes	168,333	66
Maize	148,510	58
Tomatoes	129,800	51
Watermelons	120,000	47
Barley	109,167	43
Chillies & Peppers, Green	109,000	43
Cabbages	71,733	28
Animal units, number	(number)	(number / 1000 Ha)
Cattle	285,000	112
Poultry	3,344,000	1,315
Pigs	198,420	78
Equivalent animal units	397,808	156
Annual roundwood production	(1996-98, 000 m3)	(m3 / Ha)
Total	774	304.4
Fuel	616	242.2
Industrial	158	62.1
Wood-based panels	2	0.8
	(1996-98, 000 metric tons)	(metric tons / Ha)
Paper and paperboard	15	5.9
Recovered paper	2	0.8

 

(return to top)

Solar radiation in FYR Macedonia as well as in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia/Herzegovina are amongst the highest in Europe.

The most favorable areas record a large number of sunshine hours. The yearly ratio of actual irradiation to the total possible irradiation reaches approximately 50 percent for former Yugoslavia as a whole.  This ratio is approximately 45 percent for the mountainous central regions due to the prevailing weather pattern.

The primary form of solar energy and technology used are flat plate collectors for heating houses and some commercial and public premises.  But their contribution to the total energy consumption is insignificant (less than 1 percent).  Additionally, it is not expected that this figure will increase substantially in the near future, as new consumption could mainly come from new entrants to the market i.e. of new buildings or installations.

Likewise, electricity production from solar photovoltaic sources will be restricted to research or remote locations, primarily for telecommunications.  This is due to the difficult economics for photovoltaics.

(return to top)

FYR Macedonia is located in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula, in the geothermal zone which runs from Hungary in the north and Italy in the west, and crosses Greece, Turkey, and beyond to the east. Specifically, the country is situated in the southernmost part of the Bosnian-Serbian-Macedonian geothermal area which includes the mountains of the internal Dinarides and parts of the Serbian-Macedonian massif.

The country contains six geotectonic zones: the Cukali-Krasta zone, the West Macedonian zone, the Pelagonian horst anticlinorium, the Vardarian zone, the Serbo-Macedonian massif, and the Kraisthide zone. Geothermal manifestations are mainly connected to the Vardarian zone where the earth’s crust is about 32 km.

FYR Macedonia derives useful energy in the form of heat from its geothermal wells.  At present its geothermal water is used for heating greenhouses, residential houses, some commercial buildings, swimming pools and in balneology.  No electricity is produced from geothermal energy.  As of 2000, Macedonia had an installed capacity of 81.2 MWt producing 510 TJ/yr or 142 GWh/yr.

The main hydrothermal systems are located in the East and North East of the country (see map below) in the crystalline rocks of Macedonian-Serbian massive.  The systems are characterized by low TDS and low corrosion activity.  There are 18 different geothermal fields in the country.  A number of geothermal areas composed of separate fields have been identified with more than 50 prospecting and operating wells with a depth from 40 to 2100 m at temperatures of 20-79ºC.

FYR Macedonia’s geothermal development objectives to 2010 are:

• The reconstruction, modernization, and optimization of existing projects;

• The addition of new industrial and residential projects in the Kochani geothermal system;

• Connecting additional hotels to the Bansko heating system; and

• Completing the water center at Negorci and the medical center in the Katlanovo Spa (Popovski and Popovska-Vasilevska, 1999).

 

(return to top)

There are seven large hydro plants in Macedonia with a combined capacity of 480 MW, and a number of small hydro plants with total capacity around 50 MW.

FYR Macedonia is divided into 3 separate drainage units/areas which are identified by their major rivers:

·          The Vardar River water basin/drainage area of 20.535 km²  

·          The Crni Drim River drainage area of 3.350 km²; and

·          The Strumica River drainage area of 1.535 km²

The possibility for the theoretical production of hydro-potential into electric energy is estimated to be much higher than its yearly exploitation. The total hydroelectric potential in Macedonia, which is technically suitable for exploration, is 6436 GWh/year. This energy can be best utilized by building hydropower plants with a total capacity of 1, 620 MW installed power. However, only 24 percent of waterpower resources are utilized in the exiting hydropower plants.

To meet growing demand and partly substitute imports, over the long term, 2020, the country is planning new capacity including over 200 MW of new hydro power plants.

(return to top)

(return to top)

·          World Bank, FYR Macedonia Energy Policy Paper, July 2004

·          Battocletti, Liz; Geothermal Resources in the Balkans. Bob Lawrence and Associates.

·          Energy Balances of the Republic of Macedonia, 2000

·          The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Report by the Black Sea Energy Review, May 2000 (www.bsrec.bg/macedonia)

·          UNDP Final Report on Geothermal Resources Part II – Replicability Assessment and Strategy

 

(return to top)

Contacts made in the preparation of this assessment are gratefully thanked for their contribution to this report.  Contacts include: