Will North Macedonia be able to quit dirty coal?
North Macedonia is bathed in sunlight, so, phasing out dirty coal should be easy. But because of the energy crisis, the exact opposite is currently happening: ancient coal-fired power plants are blowing huge amounts of toxic emissions into the air and new lignite mines are even being opened up!
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [German Newsreel]
00:28 [German Newsreel]
00:35 Bitola, the largest power plant in North Macedonia, a dinosaur from the coal age.
00:42 47% of the country's electricity is produced from dirty brown coal.
00:48 EU candidate for North Macedonia was considered a pioneer of the energy revolution in the Balkans,
00:53 but the energy crisis has delayed the ambitious plans for a rapid coal exit.
00:58 The pollutants are completely out of control.
01:03 You know that the world crisis is in everyone's hands.
01:08 No one was interested in the energy crisis, at least not in the energy crisis.
01:15 This power plant is 30 years old.
01:19 Therefore, with the new EU regulations and the integration agreement,
01:27 we are going to develop green energy, while we are still reconstructing the existing machines
01:36 with the aim of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.
01:41 I'm driving to the North Macedonian capital, Skopje.
01:46 Winter is coming.
01:48 Everywhere they are working on the expansion of the long-distance heating network and on the facade insulation.
01:54 The energy saving potential is enormous.
01:58 Nevena Smilevska from the non-governmental organization Bankwatch is outraged
02:04 that there are always plans to postpone the total exit from coal and gas.
02:11 The closure date needs to remain 2030.
02:15 It is very unlikely that we will be allowed as a country and also as a region
02:21 to simply disregard the European Green Deal.
02:24 If the EU accession does happen, I think that we will have to close the power plants before we exceed.
02:31 The coal power plant in Bitola is located right next to the village of Nowaci.
02:38 I get an exception permit for the mine.
02:43 The brown coal has such a bad burning value that heavy oil is added before burning.
02:51 Actually, it was planned to switch to natural gas and to end coal in 2027.
02:58 At the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, the government has now decided to exit coal in 2030.
03:06 We have been exploiting the mines for 10 years and then we have been recultivating them for 10 years.
03:14 Maybe we should work in another mine with another mineral resource.
03:18 While Macedonian ministers are strengthening the coal exit at the climate summit,
03:23 the coal lobby wants to open a new coal mine on site.
03:27 We are now about to open three coal mines, so that our thermal power plant will be able to operate in England for the next 30 years.
03:40 This will completely destroy the coal exit strategy.
03:43 It doesn't make sense to get a grant for just transition away from coal and open a new coal mine.
03:51 This is unacceptable.
03:53 12 kilometers from the coal mine is the city of Bitola.
03:58 For a few months, more and more business people have been installing solar cells on the roof.
04:03 There are supplies. Excessive electricity can be fed into the grid.
04:07 Workers are also available at the School of Management of Milewski.
04:11 The institute makes Bitola's youth fit for green jobs and works with local companies that focus on green growth.
04:21 And there is an exchange of experiences with partners on the other side of the border, in Greece.
04:27 The transition from coffee to green energy is taking place in parallel in both countries.
04:33 Technology is available for both countries everywhere in the world.
04:38 And the human resources are being prepared to accept this technology in the process of transition.
04:45 With the help of the German Reconstruction Credit Institute, a long-distance heating grid is to be built,
04:50 which will supply the city of Bitola with the heating of the power plant.
04:54 The mayor is angry that this will take so long and is now focusing on energy savings projects.
05:00 What we did directly as a local government is to subsidize the citizens.
05:08 Energy efficient facades are one of our projects.
05:12 In addition, we have also invested in projects for the supply of photovoltaics.
05:16 The second-oldest coalmine in North Macedonia is in Oslome.
05:21 120 megawatts of coal power is to be replaced by 120 megawatts of solar power.
05:28 Three solar power plants are being built in several branches on the coal-fired open-cast mine.
05:33 The pilot project with 10 megawatts is being operated by the state-owned energy producer,
05:38 the same company that also manages the coal.
05:41 This plant has been in operation for over a year.
05:45 It could produce electricity and feed it into the grid, but it doesn't.
05:49 A scandal. And why? Bureaucracy and paper crampons.
05:55 The case is that we are currently using the grid for electricity.
06:02 We are allowing the licenses that should be approved by the Ministry and the Energy Commission.
06:17 I think that in Macedonia, according to the Energy Strategy 2030, all the coalmines will be closed.
06:26 North Macedonia is hanging by a thread of international moneymakers.
06:30 Without the help of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
06:34 a rapid exit from coal is not possible.
06:37 At the climate conference in Dubai, a new 3 billion euro package
06:41 for a socially acceptable energy transition in North Macedonia was signed.
06:46 That's actually our biggest concern, the social part of the transition,
06:51 because the photovoltaic power plant doesn't need much workforce.
06:56 On the social part, we are actually afraid.
06:59 If we don't find a solution for this, then actually we will have to move all out.
07:06 50% of Kicevo is abroad.
07:11 Kicevo is a very small city.
07:16 It doesn't have much factories that generate workplaces for people here.
07:22 But it's not just about the cities.
07:25 Belica is a small village very close to the city.
07:28 Sofia and Rade are from Germany and France.
07:31 They have returned to Belica, where they are renovating the old village school.
07:35 2000 people used to live here.
07:37 Now there are only a few dozen.
07:39 The houses are dilapidated, the people have moved away to where there is work.
07:44 Sofia and Rade want to turn Belica into an energy-transition village with solar energy.
07:49 It's not easy.
07:51 To install 6 kilowatts and to have an inverter or to have a battery extra,
07:57 you need at least 5,000 to 6,000 euros.
07:59 And a lot of people don't have this money.
08:01 The problem is that there is no infrastructure for the three-phase current.
08:05 They have to pay from their own pockets for this.
08:08 We are not happy about this, of course.
08:11 We hope that it will be changed.
08:13 With donations from emigrants, grants from the Swedish government and 13 years of self-employment,
08:20 Rade has expanded the ruins to an eco-centre for school excursions.
08:24 In November, a photovoltaic system was installed on the roof.
08:30 We need to make a law for energy companies so that people can get together and go to the market together
08:38 to sell solar panels at a reasonable price.
08:44 Here in the village, but also in many cities of North Macedonia, wood is used for heating.
08:51 Because in rural areas and small towns, where people have little money,
08:55 the wood is often illegally cut or used as a waste heater.
09:00 People use it, because the wood is expensive.
09:04 People use it, because it's plastic, the oil is burnt, and such carcinogenic works, which are dangerous.
09:13 We plan to throw this stove away, so that we don't need to use more wood.
09:20 In one or two months, we plan to put inventories for heating on the roof.
09:26 With a fabulous 280 sunny days a year, North Macedonia is one of the sunniest countries in Europe.
09:35 Should the country really succeed, as announced at the climate conference in Dubai,
09:40 to get out of the coal by 2030,
09:43 North Macedonia would be a role model for the entire West Balkan region and beyond.
09:49 [Music]