Minister of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources Sanja Bozhinovska attended and addressed the ministerial panel at the high-level event "Electricity, Digital and Regional Interconnectivity in South East Europe", which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, where a new OECD project to promote electricity interconnection, digitalization and regional cooperation in South East Europe was officially launched.
The event brought together ministers and senior representatives from countries in the region, as well as representatives of the OECD and European institutions, with the aim of defining priorities for the modernization of electricity infrastructure, better regional integration of electricity markets, and accelerating the green and digital transition.
In her speech, Minister Bozhinovska emphasized that for the countries of the region, energy interconnections and modern energy networks are not only part of the green transition, but are key to energy security, economic competitiveness and the integration of the European energy market.
"For the Western Balkan countries, electricity interconnections and smart grids are essential - they ensure system stability, greater exchange of electricity and conditions for greater integration of renewable sources," Bozhinovska emphasized.
The Minister emphasized that North Macedonia is actively working on several key projects for the regional interconnection of power systems. Among them is the Manastir-Elbasan interconnection with Albania, for which construction activities on the Macedonian side are expected to begin in March, with a completion deadline of about 30 months.
At the same time, the country is actively working to strengthen the east-west power corridor in the Western Balkans, which will connect the North Macedonian system with Kosovo and allow for improved transmission capacity and greater stability of the regional power system.
Bozhinovska also emphasized that work is underway to improve the existing Manastir-Meliti interconnection with Greece, for which technical support has already been provided by the Western Balkans Investment Framework, as well as the new Strumica-Sandanski interconnector with Bulgaria, which is part of the wider regional infrastructure for electricity connection.
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