February 18 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's government said it has started the construction of a 400 kilovolt (kV) power transmission line to Albania - an investment project worth 17.2 million euro ($19.6 million).
The new power line will connect North Macedonia's Bitola to Albania's Elbasan and is part of a bigger project for a power link with Albania worth 50 million euro, North Macedonia's government said in a press release on Thursday.
Currently, North Macedonia has interconnections at the 400 kV level with Greece, Serbia, Kosovo and Bulgaria.
North Macedonia started the construction of a 400/110 kV power substation near the city of Ohrid in August 2021 as part of the project. The country's transmission system operator MEPSO signed a deal with Bosnia's Energoinvest for the construction of the Bitola-Elbasan transmission line in February 2020.
The whole project is backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is extending a 37 million euro loan, and Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), which is providing a grant of 12 million euro, according to an earlier statement by North Macedonia's government. The remainder is financed by MEPSO.
($ = 0.8793 euro)