North Macedonia signed an agreement with the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to improve its energy security. The partnership, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the energy sector, focuses on the diversification of natural gas supply and the exploration of innovative energy project solutions such as gas cogeneration.
Fossil fuels, along with some hydropower, are the basis of the country’s energy mix. North Macedonia was affected by the energy crisis due to its over-reliance on energy imports, and the diversification of sources is therefore the next step. Most of the natural gas that the country uses comes from Russia, and part of it from Greece – therefore, fluctuating energy prices and reliance to the greatest extent on one main source are affecting the energy sector again and again.
The company SOCAR, which has access to huge gas resources, considering the Caspian Lake, in addition to the reserves it manages, has access to gas pipelines such as the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP), which connect directly to Europe. By joining forces with SOCAR, North Macedonia aims to get a more stable gas supply and better control over energy prices, although it is not the only country in the region that is supplied from those areas.
Serbia has also recently been importing gas from Azerbaijan. Last year, Srbijagas and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR signed an agreement on the delivery of up to 400 million cubic meters of gas per year until 2026, with the projection that after that these quantities will increase to one billion cubic meters. Azerbaijani gas is delivered to Serbia through a new gas pipeline to Bulgaria, which is partially financed by the funds of the European Union (EU), and the gas pipeline was put into trial operation in December 2023. This kind of project also served Serbia to diversify its sources, so that it would not rely only on Russian gas, given that the needs are great.
As for North Macedonia, the plan also concerns the investment of one billion euros in the gas cogeneration system. It is a technology that simultaneously produces both electricity and heat from a given source, more precisely the natural gas that will be used. This is an efficient way of using energy because energy that would otherwise be wasted (as waste heat in conventional power plants) is used for heating during the winter. By using natural gas in a more efficient system such as cogeneration, the overall carbon dioxide emissions are reduced compared to less efficient systems.
From an economic standpoint, stable gas prices can mean lower energy costs. However, the country should be careful about the transition to renewable energy. Despite the advantages of natural gas over some other energy sources, it is crucial for North Macedonia to increase the use of renewable energy sources in order to make the economy more competitive and less dependent on fossil fuels, which dominate.
Energy portal
Source: energetskiportal.rs
