Macedonia Targets 21% Renewables in Energy Consumption by 2020, 27% by 2030

SKOPJE (Macedonia), September 10 (SeeNews) – The Macedonian government said on Friday it will target a share of 21% for renewable energy in domestic consumption by 2020 and 27% by 2030, up from 16.3% at present.

This drive to boost clean power consumption will create investment opportunities worth a combined 1.6 billion euro ($2.03 billion), the government said in a statement on its website after the adoption of the country’s renewable energy strategy.

The strategy aims to help the European Union-aspiring country comply with an EU directive that requires the share of renewables such as solar, wind or hydro energy in each member country's power mix to reach some 20% by 2020.

The Macedonian government also set a 10% target for biofuels in the energy consumption of the country's transport sector by 2020, Economy Minister Fatmir Besimi said in the statement.

This is the second blueprint for the development of Macedonia's energy sector that is adopted by the government this year. In April, the cabinet endorsed a long-term energy strategy that forecasts investment in the country's power sector at 4.0 billion to 5.0 billion euro by 2030.

Macedonia has a status of an EU candidate county since 2005, but it is still waiting to get a date to start accession negotiations.

($=0.7878 euro)

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