As part of her official visit to the U.S., the Minister of Energy, Mining, and Mineral Resources, Sanja Bozhinovska, today held a meeting in Washington with Jeffrey Ross Pyatt, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources. During the meeting, the minister, together with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Izet Mejeti, discussed the national strategic energy goals, the green transition, and the need for investments in gasification and renewable energy sources.
"One of the strategic goals of the government is to reduce the country's dependence on electricity imports in the coming period. The green transition and decarbonization are among the priorities in the next period, and a key interest is a swift start in implementing projects for electricity production from renewable sources that will add value to the power system. We are also adjusting the legal regulations according to the strict EU directives, which will serve as a roadmap for our future path," stated Bozhinovska during the meeting with Pyatt.
Government representatives, along with the U.S. official, exchanged views on activities that will be carried out in the coming period in the field of gasification. Given that the entire process, as well as the construction of interconnectors with neighboring countries, is one of the priorities, the possibilities for potentially connecting the country to existing gas pipelines in the region were discussed. By connecting to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Macedonia would significantly strengthen its energy security and future, as the path to energy transition is precisely replacing coal with gas corridors.
In the coming period, the U.S. will remain a strong strategic partner in the country's green transition.