North Macedonia’s cumulative solar capacity passed the 1 GW milestone in 2025, with the market currently led by utility-scale and C&I installations. Looking ahead, all market segments are anticipated to move towards hybrid solar-plus-storage solutions following the introduction of a new energy law last year.
Image: Dimitar Stevcev/Unsplash
North Macedonia installed around 210 MW of solar in 2025, according to figures shared by solar association Solar Macedonia. The figure takes the country’s cumulative capacity connected to the grid past 1 GW, to around 1.2 GW.
Aleksandro Vasilevski, Head of Energy Storage Solutions at Skopje-based Battery Evolution and a member of Solar Macedonia, told pv magazine that the main market drivers in 2025 were the continued reduction in installation and equipment costs, leading to strong growth in utility-scale installations and commercial and industrial (C&I) installations for self-consumption.
He explained that the C&I market segment was the first to see strong solar growth in Macedonia, with investments in self generation proving to be economically justified and effective in reducing operational expenses for companies. Large-scale ground-solar solar between 1 MW and 10 MW followed, primarily aimed at electricity production for energy trading purposes. “Currently the utility-scale PV segment is performing the best, since most of the factories and companies have already installed PVs on their rooftops,” Vasilevski said.
Vasilevski added that the rapid expansion of PV is yet to extend equally to the residential sector. “The main reason for this is the lack of financial instruments, such as grants, public funding programs, or favorable credit lines, that would enable ordinary citizens to invest in rooftop hybrid PV-plus-storage systems,” he explained.
North Macedonia’s Ministry for Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources has increased the permitted PV installation capacity from 6 kW to 10 kW for households and from 40 kW to 70 kW for companies, which Vasilevski said is a positive signal for future solar installations.
Looking ahead to 2026, Vasilevski said a key driver will be the expansion of hybrid solar-plus-storage projects, with a greater focus on self-consumption and energy trading optimization.
“Companies and industrial facilities which have installed solar on their rooftops are now looking to add batteries in order to minimize their electricity costs,” he explained. “There is also bigger interest in residential hybrid PV-plus-storage solutions, but in my opinion a balanced energy transition requires stronger governmental support for the residential PV-plus-BESS sector, instead of prioritizing industrial and utility-scale developments.”
Image: Solar Macedonia
Vasilevski added that the pace of new installations is expected to slow in 2026 compared to previous years, with grid congestion, limited connection capacity and stricter technical requirements for new projects all playing a factor. However, he said that a slowdown would indicate a transition toward more flexible solutions, rather than reduced market activity.
“Rapid growth in battery energy storage systems deployment is expected, as storage becomes essential for grid stability, energy trading and enabling further renewables integration, making hybrid solar-plus-storage projects the next key phase of market development,” he explained.
North Macedonia introduced a new energy law last year. Its key innovations include facilitating the construction of solar, wind and hydropower plants though an annual energy infrastructure plan and considering energy storage as a separate activity key to managing renewables.
Vasilevski told pv magazine that to further improve North Macedonia’s solar market, focus should be on effective implementation of the new law, through clear secondary regulations that accelerate project permitting, enable faster grid connection procedures and create transparent rules for storage and hybrid renewable projects. 
“The new framework is a strong step forward, but the market would benefit from clearer definitions of the role of energy storage, improved access to balancing and flexibility markets and stronger support for aggregators and advanced energy management solutions,” Vasilevski said. “This will help unlock further investment ensuring stable and sustainable growth of the renewable energy sector in Macedonia.”
In December, the country’s state-owned electricity generation company, Elektrani na Severna Makedonija, secured a $102.5 million financing package for a 134 MW solar project, the largest solar asset currently under development in Macedonia.
Earlier this month, Macedonia’s Ministry of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources approved 59 solar projects with a combined capacity over 3 GW under its 2026 annual energy construction plan, following a public call launched last September. A statement from the ministry says the projects have an estimated investment value around €2.1 billion ($2.5 billion).
The construction plan also approved 96 energy storage facilities, including 77 integrated systems linked to new or existing plans and 19 standalone units, with a combined capacity of 2.2 GW/4.9 GWh.
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