December 21 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's fuel oil-fired power plant TEC Negotino will either be sold or converted to natural gas - an investment worth an estimated 200 million euro ($243.8 million) to 500 million euro, prime minister Zoran Zaev said on Monday.
TEC Negotino launched a call for a feasibility study of its strategic options and the government will decide in the first half of 2021 whether it will build a new gas-fired power plant at the same site through a public-private partnership or sell the existing facility, Zaev told a news conference streamed on the government's Youtube channel.
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In November, Zaev said the government is considering a partial or full privatisation of TEC Negotino and several other state-controlled companies. TEC Negotino, which started operating in 1978, has not generated electricity for more than ten years, mostly due to high production costs.
Zaev also said on Monday that the government has secured grant funds to carry out feasibility studies for the installation of three photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of 160 MW at the REK Bitola thermal power plant. The coal-fired REK Bitola is the primary source of electricity in North Macedonia.
($ = 0.8202 euro)