In May 2026 Macedonia produced almost as much electricity as it consumed - 96.5 percent of domestic consumption was covered by domestic production. According to the State Statistical Office, total gross production of electricity came to 462,653 megawatt-hours, against consumption of 479,603 megawatt-hours. A figure that at first glance sounds like a success - and in part it is.

But behind the percentage hides a far less bright reality. Almost all of the coal consumption - 99.9 percent - went precisely into producing electricity. That means our „domestic” energy independence still hangs on REK Bitola and on the coal we dig up and burn. The electricity is domestic, yes, but the price we pay is not only on the electricity bill - it is also paid in the air we breathe and in the climate we are changing.

The data show other shifts too. Natural gas consumption in May rose by 4.8 percent compared to last year, which the Office attributes to the operation of heating plants that were not active in the same period a year earlier. On the other hand, consumption of petroleum products fell by 8.5 percent.

So, what is the picture? Macedonia really can cover its own electricity needs - but with an energy mix that is still heavy, dirty and dependent on coal. True energy independence is not measured only in whether the electricity is domestic, but also in what it is produced from. While 99.9 percent of the coal ends up in the boilers of the thermal power plants, we are talking about a self-satisfaction from the last century. The question for the future remains unanswered: what will become of those percentages when the coal, sooner or later, has to go?