Technical Assistance to Connectivity paves way for electricity market integration in the Western Balkans, additional efforts required to complete the process 

Technical assistance to Regional Energy Market Connectivity in the Western Balkans, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Secretariat, has drawn to a close. The project’s budget of EUR 1 million was implemented through 17 projects and more than 50 workshops, trainings and meetings, contributing to the creation of a regional energy market and capacity building of 43 stakeholders directly or indirectly supported through the project.

The technical assistance was instrumental in removing remaining barriers for electricity market integration in the WB6. Regional projects focusing on market coupling, cross-border balancing and capacity calculation delivered a legal, regulatory and contractual framework, as well as accompanying roadmaps, based on the assumption that the WB6 parties can be integrated into European platforms, without any additional barriers. Further progress in their implementation will require stronger political commitment and agreement on the conditions under which market integration between the WB6 and EU Member States will be possible.

At the national level, the technical assistance supported the establishment of the day-ahead markets in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia, most of which are expected to be fully operational by early-2021. National barriers to cross-border balancing were removed following adoption of new balancing rules in Albania and North Macedonia, developed under the technical assistance. Most recently, market-based procurement of balancing services and non-discriminatory imbalance settlement was implemented in North Macedonia, allowing for cross-border balancing cooperation to develop.

To ensure a level playing field and development of competition, a set of cross-cutting projects dedicated to trading capacities of state-owned generation companies, certification of transmission system operators and functional unbundling of distribution system operators were realised, also resulting in the certification of transmission system operators in Albania and Montenegro.  

To disseminate the project’s results and achievements, the Secretariat has compiled and published an overview of the project budget, beneficiaries, activities and main deliverables.