7 February 2008 | 10:22 | FOCUS News Agency
Skopje. Macedonia should participate in the construction of the new Belene NPP, as Bulgaria proposed last year to Macedonia to join the energy giant, the Macedonian Spic newspaper writes.
Macedonian experts think in this way the country will find a long-term solution of the electricity shortage problem.
“It is worth trying to participate in the construction of the Belene NPP. Each year we are giving more and more money to import electricity, and it has been forecast that up to 2012 we will spend about EUR 200 million on foreign electricity. This means that if we invest in Belene, the money will return in two years because we will buy the electricity at a production price,” Prof. Atanasko Tunevski opined.
The construction of Belene NPP starts in August and costs EUR 4 billion. The power plant will have capacity of 2,000 MW and will produce as much electricity as 20 power plants of the Negotino TPP type.
According to unconfirmed information Bulgaria has suggested to Macedonia purchasing 200 MW annually from the power plant, and the energy experts calculated that Macedonia will have to pay EUR 200 million.
Last week answering a question posed by an MP, Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski said the government is considering investing in Belene, but at the same time the ministers are looking into the option to invest in a Macedonian NPP.