The gasification of Macedonia stagnated for more than a decade. During those years, the country was constantly mentioned as a place through which one of the major gas pipelines coming from the east or southeast should pass, such as ‘South Stream,’ ‘North Stream,’ ‘Turkish Stream,’ ‘Nabucco,’ and very few citizens who are not energy experts could understand all those combinations and ‘possibilities’ for supplying the country with natural gas. Now the supply has been defined, and the construction of the primary network is progressing continuously.
The director of National Energy Resources (NER), Bajram Redzepi, says that these gas pipelines, in reality were never planned to pass through Macedonia. The supply with gas in Macedonia at the moment will be going through other gas pipelines, other projects i.e. TAP and TANAP.
At the moment we are depending only on the Russian gas. Can we say that after the completion of the primary gas network that Macedonia’s “gas” future will be defined and secure, after all the routes that were discussed, finally where will Macedonia supply gas from?
-TANAP connects with the South-Caucasus gas pipeline at the Turkish-Georgian border, using the sources of Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan. TAP connects with TANAP at the Greek-Turkish border. With the construction of our interconnection gas pipeline with the Greek transmission operator – DESFA, we could supply ourselves from TAP and from the Greek LNG terminals as well and all other sources of supply of DESFA, but also through the existing interconnector with Bulgaria.
At what price will we buy gas?
The price of our supply will certainly depend on the price at the world stock market, but the diversification of our sources of supply will certainly have greater impact in order to get much cheaper prices of the current ones.
What is the financial structure of the primary network?
-The construction of the transmission network will be in development in the next 10 years. Currently, the section from Klechovce to Negotino has been completely built in length of 92 km and the section Skopje-Tetovo-Gostivar in length of 88 km. The funding is with credit from Deutsche Bank and Erste Bank and one part with the Russian clearing debt. The next sections will be built with credits from European investment institutions and our own funds.
From a strategic perspective, what place will Macedonia occupy in the Balkan system — an important one or a marginal one?
-The construction of the gas interconnection with the Republic of Greece, except economic has also great geopolitical significance for the country and definitely brings us back as regional factor, since our transmission system will be used for supply of the Western Balkan with the gas that will go through TAP and that will certainly have a huge effect on our prices.
After the construction is completed, will we be able to be sure that the supply will be continuous and that no one will be able to pressure us with restrictions on the energy source?
-Definitely yes, but we have to be prepared to build storages, because it is very important to ensure smooth flow of gas throughout the year through our interconnection lines.
The Croatian expert on energy systems and renewable sources, Dr. Neven Duic, who has been staying in Skopje these days, said that gasification is an outdated solution that developed countries are abandoning it and moving towards renewable energy sources. Have we made a mistake in our commitment to gasification and why energy efficiency projects are not growing at a faster pace?
-I disagree with that conclusion, since in many more developed countries, gas is planned to be one of the dominant fuels in the next 30-40 years and 100 billion euros are invested in the construction of gas infrastructure across Europe, especially if we look at the growth of energy consumption and the need for balance. In our country it is almost impossible to plan rapid transformation, looking at consumer purchasing power and the forecasts of the movement of electricity prices.
How can a good price be achieved for all end users?
-With good and sustainable strategy and energy policy. This means: rapid construction of the distribution network throughout the country, construction of interconnection line with Greece, construction of at least two gas power plants and gas storage, construction of interconnector with Kosovo, subsidization of internal domestic installations, etc. This will contribute to the growth of consumption, with final effect, lower prices to end consumers.
Who is involved in the construction of the main network? Does our workforce have enough experienced builders for such networks, or are foreign companies working on it?
-The construction of the transmission system has been done with 100% participation of domestic companies, with outstandingly good pace. It is very important that such an experience and engineering capacity have been created and it can be even offered in the foreign markets, as well as our region and across Europe.
Which model do you recommend for the distribution network and for the selection of distribution operator?
-Such an important decision should not be based on a recommendation or persuasion. There is a serious feasibility study conducted in 2014, commissioned by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which provides guidance on how the distribution network should be built, developed, and maintained. Based on that study, the government has already decided that the distribution network will be constructed through a public-private partnership, as is the case in almost all other countries. I expect that this procedure will be launched very soon
What is the price of a household connection and is there any possibility for subsidy?
Looking at the prices in the region, I expect the connection fee in our country to be lower than what is currently being paid, as well as the price per cubic meter of gas. As mentioned above, it is extremely important to prepare a good subsidy model for internal household installations, for which the government is, of course, seriously preparing