North Macedonia is planning a standalone battery at Bitola with 100 MW of power and 400 MWh of storage, at an estimated cost of EUR 98 million. Its proposed financing would combine public and concessional support. The project reflects a wider Western Balkans approach, where smaller, less-liquid balancing markets make financing based only on merchant revenues less dependable than in mature EU markets.
The proposed funding package includes the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), KfW, concessional climate finance and a Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) grant. The financing approach recognises that some of the project’s value to the power system may not be fully monetised in a merchant market.
Western Balkan markets offer attractive price volatility and have growing renewable capacity, but their balancing markets are smaller and less liquid than those in mature EU markets. Revenue assumptions drawn from deeper EU markets do not account for regional differences in market depth, liquidity, regulatory certainty and utility credit structures.
Battery and renewable projects across the region
In Albania, Fortis Energy’s co-located project at Erseke has reached ready-to-build status. It combines 75 MWp of solar with a 40 MWh battery. The storage facility can support solar integration and shape output without requiring a standalone storage market to underpin the entire investment case.
Montenegro’s power utility EPCG is working with PowerX towards a target of roughly 500 MWh over three years. Separately, the government is pursuing a process for a strategic battery storage system (BESS) project.
Financing and bankability
Across these projects, the route to bankability combines merchant value with public, utility or renewable-portfolio support. Lenders may require lower merchant leverage and more explicit credit enhancement than for comparable assets in the EU. Grants, sovereign guarantees, strong utility counterparties and cash flows from co-located renewables can help offset limited market depth as trading frameworks mature.
Compared with mature EU markets, bankability in the Western Balkans is expected to rely more heavily on blended finance, utility credit and renewable co-location. Financing structures will therefore need to address both market revenues and the additional support available to each investment.
