The South-East planning region towards energy independence with new photovoltaic power plants

The Centre for development of the South-East planning region has successfully implemented the project “Energy Efficient Region” for the construction of photovoltaic power plants for the municipalities of Radovish, Konche and Vasilevo, for which a promotional event was held on 22.11.2024. The event was attended by the Minister of Local Self-Government, Mr. Zlatko Perinski, the Mayors of the municipalities involved in the project, representatives of the Ministry and the project office, as well as other guests.

Mr. Pirinski emphasized that this is a very important project, not only due to the reduction of electricity consumption, but also due to the long-term energy security and preservation of the natural environment. “It is an excellent example of inter-municipal cooperation, which can be applied in other regions, enabling the improvement of the quality of life and support for economic growth,” Perinski pointed out.

The Director of the Centre, Gjoko Kamchev, added that this project is a significant step towards creating an energy-independent region. “The project is focused on the integration of new software solutions for the use and production of electricity from alternative sources. Additionally, efficient monitoring and redirection of the produced energy is envisaged where it is most needed at a given moment. With this, the South-East Planning Region sets an example for how regions should move towards sustainable development,” Kamchev stressed.

The photovoltaic power plants will contribute to a significant reduction in electricity costs in the three municipalities. The produced energy will be distributed according to the following principle: 25% for the municipalities of Konche and Vasilevo, while 50% will belong to the Municipality of Radovish. These savings will enable the municipalities to direct funds to other development priorities, such as improving education and infrastructure.

The total investment in the project is around 23 million denars, with financial support from the Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Swiss Development Agency, as well as participation from the three municipalities.

The project is implemented within the framework of the grant scheme of the project “Sustainable and Inclusive Balanced Regional Development – Second Phase.” With such initiatives, the Centre for development of the South-East planning region continues to improve the quality of life and create conditions for sustainable development in the region.

The first forum session for the implementation of regional projects was held

On October 27, 2023, with the holding of the First Forum Session, the Centre for the Development of the South-East Planning Region began the implementation of Regional Forums in the community in order to prepare projects under the Program for Balanced Regional Development for 2024 of the Bureau for Regional Development.

At the forum session, participants from different categories from the 10 municipalities of the South-Easte planning region were present and they actively participated in determining the priority areas in which they intervene, in identifying the problems and proposing solutions that will enable the improvement of the conditions for the life of the population in the South-East region.

The priority areas that received the most votes from the forum participants were the following:

Transport and infrastructure and
Economy and tourism.
Based on the identified problems, through their analysis and elaboration, conceptual solutions will be developed in the coming period. They will further be presented to the Council for the Development of the South-East Planning Region, as well as to the present participants of the second forum session, which is planned to be held at the end of November 2023.

The regional community forums in the South-East planning region are financially supported by the Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through the project “Sustainable and Inclusive Balanced Regional Development – Phase 2”.

Photovoltaic power plants installed in the “Energy Efficient Region” project

The second promotional event in the “Energy Efficient Region” project was held in Radovish, project implemented by the Centre for development of the South-East planning region, and financially supported by the Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Swiss Government. Municipalities of Radovish, Konche and Vasilevo also participate with their own funds.

Activities implemented so far were presented and the event was attended by the Minister of Local Self-Government in the Government of R. S. Macedonia, the mayors of Radovish and Konche municipalities, the director of the Centre for development of the South-East planning region and representatives from the project office of the project “Sustainable and Inclusive Balanced Regional Development”.

With the implementation of the project, on the one hand, the municipalities of Radovish, Konche and Vasilevo will have a great benefit in terms of saving electricity consumption, and on the other hand, the citizens will also benefit from the increased investments in infrastructure projects which will lead to increased economic development.

– “I hope that all national and international institutions will recognize the benefits of these projects and will finance other similar projects in the future, which will enable easier functioning and easier sustainability of the municipalities and municipal institutions in the region” – emphasized the director of the Centre, Mr. Gjoko Kamchev.

It is expected that by the end of November this year, the photovoltaic power plants of the two facilities in Radovish will be completely installed, after which the development of software for energy monitoring will follow, and trainings for the use of the system are planned, intended for representatives of the three partner municipalities.

“ENERGY EFFICIENT REGION” PROJECT HAS BEEN PROMOTED

On March 24, 2023, the “Energy Efficient Region” project was promoted, which was implemented by the Centre for the Development of the South-East Planning Region, in partnership with the municipalities of Konče, Radovish and Vasilevo, and which foresees the construction of a system of photovoltaic power plants on the roofs of OOU “Krste Petkov Misirkov” and the Sports Hall “25 May” in Radovish with a capacity of 430 KW, as well as the development of a software digital system.

At the event, the Director of CRJIPR, Mr. Gjoko Kamchev, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Local Self-Government, Mr. Kiril Partalov, the Mayor of Radovish Municipality, Mr. Aco Ristov, the Mayor of Konche Municipality, Mr. Zlatko Ristov and the Mayor of the municipality of Vasilevo, Mr. Slave Andonov gave their own address about the project.

“I hope that in the coming period, as a top priority in the goals of the municipalities and the Center, it will be precisely green energy that will significantly contribute to the reduction of the costs of the municipalities, and thus will additionally enable them to use the funds that were previously spent on energy and electricity to use for the realization of other projects, which will be of vital importance for the citizens of the municipalities of Vasilevo, Konche and Radovish” – said the director of the Centre, Mr. Kamchev.

The project team presented the previous and future activities that will be implemented, the expected results, as well as the benefits after the completion of the project implementation.

The total budget of the project amounts is about 23 million denars, funds provided by the Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the three municipal partners in the project that also participate.

 

Signed Agreement for handing over the use and maintenance of the Command Center procured within the HELP project

Today, March 30, 2021, in the premises of the Center for Development of the South-East Planning Region in Strumica, the Head of the Center for Development of the South-East Planning Region, Ms. Julieta Ghjurkova and the Director of the Crisis Management Center, Mr. Stojance Angelov signed Agreement for providing use, maintenance and servicing of the Command Center procured within the project “Integrated Operational Center for Humanitarian Aid” – HELP.

Previously, representatives of both institutions visited the Regional Center for Crisis Management, RCUK Strumica, where the Command Center itself is located in order to review the installed equipment and a short presentation was made about the possibilities of the equipment and how it will be used in conditions of natural disasters in the country and in the cross-border region with Greece.

The Center for Development of SEPR in the past period worked intensively towards achieving the main goal of the project, providing modern infrastructure and equipment for crisis management and the results are visible with the installation of a fully equipped Command Center which was recently set up in the South-East Planning Region in Strumica.

“This Command Center will serve not only for the South-East region, but wherever there is a need in the country will be transported because this sophisticated container is the first of its kind made in our country and I hope this will be a successful example of cross-border cooperation.” with Greece with the hope that in the future we will implement such a project with R.Bulgaria in order to speed up intervention and protection of citizens throughout the cross-border region,” said Ms. Gjurkova.

According to the planned activities, until the end of the project implementation, together with the project partners, two pilot actions will be implemented, one in our region and one in Greece, during which a virtual scenario for a certain disaster in the cross-border region will be created. rapid response and communication with the cross-border area enabled through the Command Center. It is also planned to organize an Info Day to present the results achieved within the project. The project is co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Program between R. North Macedonia and Greece and the national funds of the participating countries.

The bridge connecting the villages of Prosenikovo and Saraj is in the final stage of construction

With the beginning of the activities regarding the asphalting of the bridge and the access roads, the construction of the bridge between the settlements Prosenikovo and Saraj is in the final phase and the construction works are expected to be completed in about a week, when it will be officially put into use.

The length of the bridge is about 25 meters, and together with the access roads the total length is about 215 meters. This bridge is of great importance primarily for the inhabitants of the two villages, which will facilitate their daily communication, for the agricultural producers who cross the bridge every day to reach their agricultural areas, but also for transporting their products to the wholesale markets, as and for all citizens from the municipalities of Strumica, Bosilovo and Vasilevo.

Modernization of the road Prosenikovo – Saraj through construction of a bridge on the river Turija leads to improvement of road infrastructure in the municipalities of Strumica and Bosilovo and improvement of living conditions of citizens in this part of the region which enables greater economic development of municipalities and and the entire South-East region.

The construction of the bridge is part of the project “Construction of a bridge on the river Turija on a local road v. Prosenikovo – v. Saraj” which the Centre for development of the South-East planning region implements in partnership with the Municipality of Strumica, and the funds for its implementation are provided by the Bureau for Regional Development – Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Municipality of Strumica.

More information about the project: https://southeast.mk/portfolio/.

Second forum session within the Regional Community Forums for 2020

As part of the second forum session, an e-questionnaire was completed in order to prioritize project concepts as proposed solutions emerged from the participants in the first forum session, and developed by experts in cooperation with the Centre for Development of SEPR. The questionnaires were completed by a total of 62 participants, representatives of the municipalities, public administration from the region, business sector, pensioners, unemployed persons, etc., of which 26 (41.9%) are women and 36 (58.1%) are men .

After the analyzes and the summarized data, the concepts for project proposals were ranked in the following order:

-Enrichment of the tourist offer in the South-East planning region

-Construction of an access road to the regional station for stray dogs

-Construction of a local road on the route v. Pogulevo – v. Damjan

Within the Second Forum Session on 15.12.2020, an online presentation of the voting results was held, as well as the analytical study of the five proposed concepts and where given the recommendations for their improvement. Furthermore, these results will be presented to the Council for Development of the South-East Region, which will take them into account when determining the final list of priority projects.

First forum session within the Regional Community Forums for 2020

The Centre for development of the South-East planning region (CDSEPR), in October, started the preparations for holding Regional Community Forums as a tool for identification, prioritization and preparation of project proposals for obtaining financial support from the Bureau for Balanced Regional Development Programme of the Regional Development Bureau and the Ministry of Local Self-Government of RNM. Based on the positive experience from the forum processes so far, within the project “Sustainable and inclusive balanced regional development”, which was realized by the Centres for development of planning regions with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and MLSG, it was decided participatory and transparent of decisions, with wide civic participation, to be practiced in providing support for project proposals from BRD and MLSG. Namely, the regional forum, as well as the compliance of the projects with the determined priorities in the programs for development of the planning regions and with the annual list of projects adopted by the Councils for development of the planning regions, will become a mandatory qualification criterion in the process of project application and use of available funds from the Programme for balanced regional development of BRD / MLSG.

According to the concept for implementation of regional forums, it is planned to hold two forum sessions where participants will select priority areas and areas of strategic goals of the region, identify problems, needs and challenges affecting the region and prioritize concept solutions prepared based on civic needs. However, due to the escalation of the COVID 19 pandemic and the large number of infected in the South-East region, only a few participants from the key partners accepted physical presence, due to which a decision was made to conduct the first forum session by conducting an electronic questionnaire.

From the analyzed results from the completion of the electronic questionnaire, the participants chose the following priority 2 areas and 2 sub-areas:

Area 1. Agriculture and rural development

Sub-areas:

1. Development of modern and functional infrastructure in villages and areas with specific development needs

2. Modernization and improvement of the competitiveness of the agricultural production

 

Area 2. Economy, investments, labor market, tourism

Sub-areas:

1. Development and promotion of the region as an attractive tourist destination

2. Development of entrepreneurial ecosystem and encouragement of entrepreneurship (incl. Women and youth)