ESM BESS Bitola (EBRD-56804)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • North Macedonia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Bitola
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 2, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
JSC Elektrani na Severna Makedonija AD Skopje
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 38.19 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 33.1
Converted using 2026-09-15 exchange rate.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 38.19 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 33.1
Converted using 2026-09-15 exchange rate.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 113.08 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 98
Converted using 2026-09-15 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Oct 16, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Sep 15, 2026

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Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the EBRD, the project consists of a sovereign-guaranteed loan of up to EUR33.1 million to JSC Elektrani na Severna Makedonija AD Skopje to finance the development, construction and operation of North Macedonia's first utility-scale standalone 100 MW/400 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Bitola, North Macedonia, together with a central SCADA system, power generation planning and trading software, and new IT and cybersecurity infrastructure for ESM.

The Project cost is EUR98 million and is expected to be co-financed by Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau ("KfW"), concessional climate finance from the Clean Technology Fund ("CTF"), and a WBIF investment grant, which remains subject to approval.

The Project is expected to enhance power system flexibility and reliability, facilitate the integration of renewable energy capacity, reduce renewable energy curtailment and support the provision of balancing services, thereby contributing to the decarbonisation and resilience of North Macedonia's electricity sector. The Project is expected to be 100% GET and is a priority investment under the Just Energy Transition Investment Platform (JETIP), a flagship initiative launched by the Government of North Macedonia with technical support from the EBRD.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the EBRD, ESM is the public electricity generation utility, fully owned by the Government of North Macedonia. The company provides approximately 53% of the entire domestic electricity production.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - JSC Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (JSC Power Plants of North Macedonia) Client Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Client - JSC Elektrani na Severna Makedonija AD Skopje:

Ivan Stojanovski
Email: ivan.stojanovski@elem.com.mk 
Phone: +389 70 582 521
Fax: +389 2 3149 160
Website: https://www.esm.com.mk/ 
Address: 11 Oktomvri 9, 1000 Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html

How it works

How it works