December 1 (SeeNews) - The government of North Macedonia proposes a six-month extension of the state of crisis due to difficulties in power supply and the current situation on the energy markets, it said on Wednesday.
The government will propose to the parliament to approve an extension of the state of crisis by June 9, it said in a statement.
The state of crisis allows authorities to take various measures, including financial intervention, to provide additional supply of electricity in case of need.
In early November, North Macedonia's government declared a 30-day state of crisis after production at the REK Bitola coal-fired power plant was halted on several occasions due to malfunctions. REK Bitola is North Macedonia's primary electricity generation capacity.
At the same time, the country's power utility ESM is facing shortages of coal, despite announcing plans to increase power output from coal to meet demand from local companies during the energy crisis.
The government also said it will run fuel oil-fired power plant TEC Negotino, which has been dormant for 12 years, from December 2021 to April 2022 to meet energy demand.