Which day did citizens consume the most electricity — EVN's figures explained

EVN's recent numbers show that a short heat wave in June pushed electricity consumption up, while cooler conditions in July reduced demand compared with the same period last year.

According to EVN's analysis, the June heat wave drew over 400,000 megawatt‑hours of electricity. Overall, consumption in June was 2.5% higher than in the same month a year earlier. The single highest delivery day fell on 26 June, when temperatures peaked during that period.

July slowdown and regional drought risks

July behaved differently this year: nearly 443,000 megawatt‑hours were consumed in the month, but temperatures were noticeably lower than in July of the previous year and Electrodistribution delivered less power as a result. EVN's analysis concludes that consumption remained within planned limits.

At the same time, drought has created operational problems at some generating plants in several European countries that rely on the Danube: Serbia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria are among those reporting reduced water levels and constrained production. That has raised questions about whether water shortages could affect hydropower output here in North Macedonia.

The Ministry of Energy has said that, for now, there is no cause for concern. Experts, however, urged caution and warned that electricity prices on the domestic market could rise if North Macedonia needed to export power to countries hit by drought and shortfalls.

For a long period ESM has used hydropotential to cover domestic needs; whether water reserves will be sufficient to shield ESM from purchasing power during the upcoming winter remains to be seen.

By Irena Čačkova

Photo: press material from the event