North Macedonia restarts Albania electricity link project to strengthen regional power security

North Macedonia has restarted work on its long-delayed 400 kV electricity interconnection with Albania, a development that matters for investors and regional utilities because it targets both supply security and cross-border trading in the Balkans. The transmission system operator MEPSO said the project has resumed after it selected a new way to move forward, bringing renewed momentum to a link designed to directly connect the two countries’ transmission networks.

What is being built on the North Macedonian side

The North Macedonian scope includes construction of a 97.5-kilometer transmission line, a new transformer substation near Ohrid, and an additional transmission bay in Bitola. Authorities have set a completion timeline of 30 months, reflecting an effort to accelerate integration with neighboring energy systems and improve regional grid stability as the cross-border connection progresses.

Financing support from EBRD and WBIF

Financing has been supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which approved a €37 million loan. The funding package also helped secure an additional €12 million grant through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF). While these amounts are specified, the total investment value of the project has not been publicly disclosed.

Delays, contract termination, and contractor retender

The project entered construction in early 2022 but was later disrupted. In late 2024, MEPSO terminated its contract with Energo-invest, citing non-performance and additional payment requests. After that disruption, MEPSO launched a new contractor tender in April 2025 to restart implementation.

Albania’s parallel progress

While North Macedonia worked through its own procurement and delivery issues, Albania began constructing its section of the interconnection at the end of 2023. With MEPSO now restarting works on the North Macedonian side, officials position this as a key step toward completing the cross-border link—an outcome expected to support deeper market integration between the two systems.

For regional power markets, restarting a major interconnector can be consequential: it can reduce bottlenecks between national grids over time and help create more reliable pathways for electricity trading across borders. The next milestone will be whether the project can meet its stated 30-month completion target after earlier implementation setbacks.