North Macedonia GENERAL INFORMATION According to official estimates, North Macedonia’s popula­tion was 2.07 million as of 1 January 2021, 219 though prelim­inary results from this year’s census suggest the number is nearer 1.9 million. 220 The official unemployment rate in 2020 was 16.4 per cent, 221 with an employment rate of 59.1 per cent. 222 The gross domestic product per capita in purchasing power standards in North Macedonia in 2020 was only 38 per cent of the EU average. 223 Almost forty per cent of people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2019, 224 the latest year for which data is available. As of November 2021, North Macedonia is undergoing a political crisis after the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia fared poorly in local elections in October 2021. The Social Democrats won elections in 2017 after long-stand­ing protests against the then VMRO-DPMNE government, which was at the centre of a wiretapping scandal, 225 and was widely regarded as highly corrupt. Despite North Mac­edonia’s intensive efforts to unblock its path to EU member­ship by making an agreement with Greece on the country’s name, EU accession negotiations have not been opened, mainly due to new objections by Bulgaria. 226 ENERGY TRANSITION SNAPSHOT North Macedonia relies predominantly on coal(one-third of generation in 2020), hydropower and gas(together totalling almost a third), and imports(almost a third) for electricity. 227 Despite its import dependence, it has committed to phase out coal by 2027, 228 a decision largely driven by decreasing lignite reserves. The country was initially a frontrunner in wind and solar pow­er in the Western Balkans. In 2015, it was the first country to put a wind farm into operation – the 36.8 MW Bogdanci plant. However, its progress stagnated for several years, with its project pipeline only picking up again in 2018. 229 219 Eurostat, Population on 1 January(DEMO_GIND), accessed 8 Decem­ber 2021. 220 Republika,‘Census 2021: Macedonia is down to 1.9 million citizens’, Republika English, 30 September 2021. 221 Eurostat, Total unemployment rate(UNE_RT_A), accessed 8 December 2021. 222 Eurostat, Employment rate by sex, age group 20-64(LFSI_EMP_A), accessed 8 December 2021. 223 Eurostat, GDP per capita in PPS(PRC_PPP_IND), accessed 8 December 2021. 224 Eurostat, People at risk of poverty or social exclusion(ILC_PEPS01), accessed 8 December 2021. 225 Sinisa-Jakov Marusic, North Macedonia Journalists Tell Wiretapping Trial about Surveillance, Balkan Insight, 22 September 2020. 226 Halime Pehlivan,‘How North Macedonia’s EU accession process was derailed’, TRT World, 17 November 2021. 227 IEA, Data and Statistics: Electricity, North Macedonia, 2020. 228 Europe Beyond Coal,‘Spain and North Macedonia commit to exit coal by 2030’, 30 June 2021. 229 CEE Bankwatch Network, Two-speed energy transition in the West­ern Balkans. Under its Energy Community commitments to increase its share of renewable energy, North Macedonia originally had a target of 28 per cent of gross final energy consumption in 2020, which was later reduced to 23 per cent after a revision of its biomass data in 2018. 230 In 2019, renewable energy sources accounted for only 16.8 per cent of gross final ener­gy consumption; 231 thus, the country does not even seem to have met this lower target. Gas is imported from Russia via Bulgaria and is mainly con­sumed by industrial customers and three combined heat and power plants, while households consume a negligible share due to the very limited distribution networks. Howev­er, the government is continuing with the gasification pro­gramme started several years ago and is planning a new gas interconnection to Greece, as well as the construction of a gas power plant to replace one unit at the coal Bitola pow­er plant. 232 As with other countries in the region, the main pitfalls in North Mac­edonia’s otherwise promising orientation towards renewables are a lack of energy efficiency measures, and being distracted by gas and hydropower investments. Neither gas nor additional hydropower are likely to prove future-proof due to the need to phase out all fos­sil fuels and the vulnerability of hydropower to changing weather conditions. North Macedonia adopted a new Energy Efficiency Law in 2020, thus transposing the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Regula­tion on Labelling of Energy-related Products. The new legal framework is just the beginning: Implementing legislation is still under development and an Energy Efficiency Fund is be­ing set up with support from the World Bank. The Ministry of Economy has only one energy efficiency expert, leading to strong reliance on donors. 233 In late 2019 North Macedonia adopted an Energy Develop­ment Strategy laying out three different scenarios, all of which make clear the need to step up efforts to invest in so­lar and energy efficiency. A follow-up implementation plan is currently under development as of November 2021. North Macedonia is the only Western Balkan country with a publicly available draft NECP as of November 2021. 234 The draft aims at an 82 per cent greenhouse gas net emissions 230 Energy Community, Decision of the Ministerial Council of the ­Energy Community, D/2012/04/MC-EnC: Decision on the implementation of Directive 2009/28/EC and amending Article 20 of the Energy Community Treaty, 9 July 2012; Energy Community, Decision of the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community, D/2018/2/MC-EnC: amending Decision 2012/04/MC-EnC of 18 October 2012 on the im­plementation of Directive 2009/28/EC and amending Article 20 of the Energy Community Treaty, 2018. 231 Eurostat, Share of energy from renewable sources[nrg_ind_ren], ­accessed 8 December 2021. 232 Igor Todorovi ć ,‘North Macedonia to shut REK Bitola coal plant unit, turn to gas’, Balkan Green Energy News, 20 October 2020. 233 Energy Community Secretariat, Implementation Report 2021. 234 Energy Community,‘Energy Community and National Energy and Climate Plans’, accessed 21 November 2021. 43