The Power Markets Laboratory (PML) is operating under the umbrella of the Institute of Power Transmission Systems (IPTS) at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (FEET) in Skopje. It is established to support the educational, scientific and research activities in power systems at FEEIT, as well as the needs of the power engineering companies and the public institutions of the Republic of North Macedonia in the process of the full opening of the power market and its integration with the regional and European markets.
The PML was founded in 2005, at a time when power markets, both theoretically and in practice, were at the early stages of development on a global level. Also, at that time the necessary preconditions for opening a power market at a national level were established – the Energy Regulatory Commission was founded, the Energy Law was amended to establish a power market, the vertically integrated enterprise for power production, transmission, distribution, and supply ‘Elektrostopanstvo na Makedonija’ was restructured and a power market operator and transmission and distribution system operators were established.
Furthermore, the global changes and the new conditions established in the power sector required engineers with adequate skills and knowledge of new concepts as well as additional training and education for the engineers already working in the field of power engineering. Consequently, the funds for renovation and technical equipment for the PML were provided by national and international projects of the IPTS. The laboratory equipment and software (about 43.000 EUR) were provided by the TEMPUS – CEFES Project (CD_JEP-18126-2003) for the development of new postgraduate studies in the field of ‘Cost-Effective and Environmentally Friendly Energy Systems’. The Project set a number of targets aiming to contribute towards adjustment (harmonization) of the national educational standards with those of the European Union (EU). Among the goals of the Project were adjustment of the curriculum to the requirements of the students and the economy and fostering education of future experts related to ecology and energy, as they are of fundamental importance for both the national and the economy of the EU.
Over the past period, the IPTS staff was engaged in a number of projects for providing support to national institutions in the process of development of regulation related to power markets, development of regional and national power exchange, as well as solutions for integration of renewable energy sources in power markets.
These activities confirm the importance of the efforts of IPTS to establish the Laboratory and to continue to contribute to power markets related issues, especially considering the long-term commitment of the EU for the development of a single European power market.
The PML, which also serves as a classroom for undergraduate and postgraduate studies on power systems at FEEIT, is equipped with a video projector, 14 PCs, and adequate software including Power World, GAMS, and CPLEX. The PML is used for teaching classes and for laboratory exercises for power markets and power systems related subjects.
