Skopje, 16 October 2024 (MIA) – The price of heating in the capital Skopje will be stable until next summer unless a drastic change happens involving the price of natural gas, Marko Bislimoski, head of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), said Wednesday adding he doesn’t expect any changes to take place.

If natural gas prices skyrocket, after currently being around 40 euros per megawatt hours, then we can talk about raising the price of heating of households, he said.

“But I don’t expect there will be any drastic changes. Thus, I don’t expect the heating price to change,” Bislimoski told reporters during a break of the meeting of the TAIEX expert mission on transposing EU’s energy legislation, organized by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

According to him, the country will face no problems in providing natural gas.

“Macedonia gets natural gas via the so called TurkStream from Turkey. At the moment, less than a half of the existing gas pipeline is used and a new interconnection with Greece is in the works, which will have a much bigger capacity than the existing one. This means providing of natural gas in the coming period won’t be a problem,” Bislimoski stated. 

Starting Tuesday, the heating season begins for households connected to the central heating system in Skopje, which will last until April 15, 2025, with the possibility of an extension for an additional 15 days depending on outside temperatures.

Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) says that during the heating season, the supplier is obliged to provide heating between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm. However, at the start of the season, if outdoor daytime temperatures are high, the supply of heat will be interrupted, resuming when temperatures drop below 15°C.

Photo: MIA