North Macedonia has formally invited EPC bidders for 30 MW solar PV capacity implementation
This capacity will be deployed as the 10 MW Oslomej 2 project and the 20 MW Bitola project
Winning companies will need to build, commission and hand over the project to ESM
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched the call for 30 MW solar PV project capacity development in North Macedonia, on behalf of the country’s state-owned utility Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM).
This includes the implementation of 10 MW Oslomej 2, which is an expansion of the 10 MW Oslomej solar power plant that was financed by the bank. The latter has been operational since April 2022 in the vicinity of the thermal power plant REK Oslomej.
The remaining 20 MW capacity will come up as the Bitola project, located adjacent to the thermal power plant REK Bitola. The broad scope of work for the winning company will be design, procurement and construction, commissioning and grid connection of the projects, then handing these over to ESM.
ESM plans to fund the cost of these projects from an EBRD loan/grant. The bank, along with the European Union (EU), has already committed €30 million for these projects.
The bank issued the tender on November 26, 2024. It will admit bids from interested EPC vendors till January 17, 2025. Details of the tender are available on the EBRD’s e-procurement portal with the project ID 52320.
Previously, in November 2022, North Macedonia was looking for consultants for this capacity (see North Macedonia Launches Tender For 30 MW Solar).
North Macedonia continues to depend on coal-fired power generation and imported electricity. It is diversifying into renewables to achieve a 49% share of renewable energy in its gross final energy consumption by 2050. According to a CAN Europe study, the country is going slow in this direction. It needs to increase support for prosumers while bringing in a stable, coherent policy and economic support for renewables (see Impediments To RE Proliferation In Western Balkans).