Skopje, 24 April 2023 (MIA) – The state should support the companies that are on the free market of electricity, instead of leaving them to seek solutions on their own. If the state does not provide concrete guarantees by June, the companies should join together to acquire electricity, concluded the Managing Board of the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia at a special session Monday.

According to the President of the Economic Chamber, Branko Azeski, if the companies joined together in 2022 to acquire electricity instead of trusting the Government, it would have cost them EUR 118 per MWh on average. He asked for responsibility from the Government and said that one of the possibilities open to the companies is to seek compensation for the losses suffered due to the unfulfilled government promises in court.

Responsibility, he said, should be sought from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) as well, because it issued licences for trading electricity to companies with only EUR 5.000 in guarantees and allowed electricity traders to not be held responsible if they terminate the electricity supply contracts they’ve signed with companies.

The businessmen present at the session noted that the ERC should also reduce the margin paid for the distribution of electricity, because it was calculated when the price of electricity was EUR 400-500 per MWh, and is not in line with the current stabilized prices which move between EUR 120 and EUR 150 per MWh.

The results of the survey carried out by the Economic Chamber concerning the losses suffered by the participating companies during the 2022 energy crisis show that the 100 companies from various sectors that were on the free electricity market and which employ over 100.000 workers and generate the largest portion of the country’s GDP, received no state aid.

Most of the companies said their volume of work would reduce if a crisis were to occur in 2023 again, which would raise their electricity costs, some of them said they wouldn’t be able to operate at all. Additionally, they pointed to a drop in competitiveness in relation to the rest of the region, because businesses receive a subsidized price of electricity in the other countries of the region.

The President of the Macedonian Energy Association (MEA), Kocho Angjushev said the conditions are different now compared to 2022, and domestic production of electricity is no longer the cheapest. Now, he stressed, there is a need to specify the expenses of the energy sector for the production of electricity and in line with economic logic to assess whether it would be cheaper to produce electricity or to import it.

There is a need, he said, for a dispersion of renewable sources of electricity and to avoid promoting only photovoltaics, instead to also promote wind parks, biogas plants and small hydropower plants. Angjushev added that the state should also consider subsidizing the construction of battery systems that would be able to store the produced electricity when it is cheaper and sell it when it is more expensive.

On the other hand, according to Angjushev, businesses should consider adapting their production process to periods of cheaper electricity.

He called on the state to comply with the Strategy on energy and certify the Ministry of Economy so that it can issue green certificates. Angjushev recommended that all state companies, as well as universal supplier EVN Home, acquire electricity through the energy exchange that will be launched in May by MEMO. Because, he said, this is the only way for the exchange to maintain liquidity.

In the future, he added, the Strategy should foresee greater use of hydrogen, as well as the construction of hydrogen production capacities that will operate when electricity is cheaper.

Aleksandar Gechev from IGM asked that the state “removes its tentacles” from business, so that it can be independent of the Government.

“As long as the Government does not decrease its role in business, especially concerning employment, it will be susceptible to clientelism, and it won’t be independent,” said Gechev.

Photo: MIA