FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
International lenders, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank, will back a 4 billion euro ($4.35 billion) plan to wean North Macedonia off coal power, the head of the EBRD told Reuters.
The deal, which is expected to be announced at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai starting on November 30, will set out a plan to close two coal-fired power plants and replace them with 1.7 gigawatts of renewable energy.
"Coal in North Macedonia represents 40% of the energy source, so it is very big, it is very important", said the president of the EBRD, Odile Renaud-Basso.
The plan follows similar efforts to phase out coal plants in South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal, with support from governments, public lenders and private investors.
Its price, equivalent to 2,000 euros for each of the Balkan nation's 2 million inhabitants, highlights the difficulty many small, or low-income, countries face in financing a transition to cleaner energy.
Who produces the most energy in the region?
The capital of North Macedonia has worked over the years to move away from coal, after the United Nations in 2018 named Skopje the most polluted country in Europe.
But in 2021, the coal-fired power plant, REK Oslomej, was reopened to cut electricity imports. Both coal-fired power plants are outdated and burn lignite, which is the most polluting type of coal.
A spokesperson for the World Bank's Climate Investment Funds (CIF) confirmed that North Macedonia was in the running for up to $85 million in concessional financing from it. He said the investment plan, including the specific amount of money, would go to the CIF governing body for approval early next year.
Renaud-Basso said that in addition to around 300 or 400 million euros in concessional financing, financing would come from multilateral lenders such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the private sector.
An IFC spokesman said the green transition, including North Macedonia, was one of its top priorities, but was unable to confirm any details of the plan.
The World Bank has not commented on this, nor has the Government of North Macedonia responded to a request for comment. /REL
North Macedonia joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance - a group of countries committed to phasing out coal power - in 2021.
The state pushed back the date to 2030 in January last year, although it had targeted completion by 2027.
The delay and plans to open two new coal mines amid energy security concerns sparked by the war in Ukraine mirrored actions by other European Union states but drew criticism from environmental activists. /REL
Lini një Përgjigje