The Macedonian government has decided to set up a working group to provide recommendations on the construction of the Cebren and Galiste hydropower plants (HPPs), a government spokesperson said on April 26.

The Cebren and Galiste HPP project on the Crna river in southern Macedonia was initially planned by the previous VMRO-DPMNE government, but the project was never implemented. VMRO-DPMNE called 12 tenders for the construction of the two plants, but all failed as there was no suitable concessioner. 

However, the new Social Democrat-led government is determined to go on with the project. Macedonia is among several countries from the Western Balkans seeking to develop its hydropower resources, as a way to increase energy security and electricity export potential. The wave of investment has, however, sparked concerns from environmental groups. 

The office of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Koco Angjusev and the ministry of economy should form the group within 10 days, spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski said. The decision was taken at the government session held on April 24.

The project is estimated to cost €220mn, and the HPPS will have capacity of 333/347MW and 193.5MW, respectively. The construction of HPP Cebren was estimated at €318.5mn by previous government, while HPP Glisten was expected to cost €200.2mn. The new government did not provide any further details. 

The previous government firstly planned to build the project in partnership with Macedonian state-owned power producer Elektrani na Makedonija (ELEM), and then it was planned the project to be developed in a public private partnership with ELEM and to be operated under 52-year concession.

The VMRO-DPMNE government changed tender conditions several times to please investors, but it failed to find a suitable one.

Greece's Public Power Corporation (PPC) several times participated in previous tenders for Cebren and Galiste HPPs. 

ELEM now operates eight hydropower plants of which most of them are located in western part of the country.

In 2017, Macedonia’s gross electricity production edged down by 0.5% y/y to just over 5,600 GWh. Macedonian relies mostly on thermal plant power production, but hydropower plants also have a significant impact on output.

The production of thermal power plants accounted for the bulk of total production (3,475 GWh) in 2017 (+16.1%), while the production of hydropower plants dropped by 41.5% y/y to 1,110 GWh of electricity.