Energy Community Secretariat calls for coordinated response following 2025 North Macedonia Blackout 

The Secretariat welcomes the expert panel's findings on the root causes of the 2025 blackout and calls for accelerated alignment with EU electricity market rules in the Western Balkans, alongside coordinated action to strengthen market integration and system security.

The Energy Community Secretariat welcomes the expert panel report published today by ENTSO-E on the collapse of the North Macedonian 110 kV system in the early morning hours of 18 May 2025. The report, published on Monday, 20 April 2026, concludes that the blackout was caused by the inability to control high voltages (above 420 kV) in the power transmission network. 

In the context of preventing further such incidents and strengthening power system security and resilience, the Secretariat notes that, to effectively integrate Western Balkan electricity markets with the EU market while preserving secure system operation and ensuring reliable supply to consumers, Energy Community Contracting Parties must transpose and implement the Electricity Integration Package. Three parts of the Package are especially important in this regard: Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation; Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2196 establishing a network code on electricity emergency and restoration; and Directive (EU) 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market for electricity. 

The Secretariat recommends that Western Balkan TSOs coordinate to determine the most effective approach to addressing the intermittent occurrence of high voltages in transmission networks. It further urges them to allocate the necessary financial resources within the shortest possible timeframe, noting that coordination ensures more efficient solutions and lower overall investment than isolated national approaches. In particular, investments in the construction of compensation devices for static and dynamic voltage control must be made. Regulatory authorities should support these investments when setting electricity transmission tariffs, ensuring that tariffs reflect the need for such measures. 

Western Balkan TSOs should also strengthen and fully implement their defence plans, and promptly implement all recommendations from the expert panel’s report to minimise the risk of similar events in the future.  The Secretariat stands ready to support all relevant institutions in the development of an action plan to improve the overvoltage situation (above 420 kV) in the SEE region, in line with the expert panel’s recommendations.