The US wants to change the energy map of the Balkans

The United States wants to change the energy map of the Western Balkans through a network of bilateral agreements on the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with the aim of reducing the region's dependence on Russia and strengthening the energy corridor from southern to central Europe.

A series of projects are planned from Croatia through Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro to Kosovo and Serbia. They include new gas pipelines, LNG terminals and gas power plants, and are accompanied by political and financial support from the administrations in Washington and Brussels.

Some projects are already in the construction or contracting phase, others are in the planning phase, while the entire regional energy mix is ​​gradually shifting towards natural gas from the US, Azerbaijan and the Mediterranean.

Jonathan Stern, a professor at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, points out that Southeast Europe has already developed alternative routes.

"There are LNG terminals in Greece and Croatia, and the Southern Gas Corridor from Azerbaijan, along with the Romanian Neptun Deep gas field in the Black Sea, whose exploitation is expected to begin next year, and whose reserves are estimated at 100 billion cubic meters," Stern told Radio Free Europe.

The end of BiH's dependence on Russia

Bosnia and Herzegovina has been in the spotlight in recent months for the Southern Gas Interconnection project with Croatia, which would give the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina access to the LNG terminal on Krk and alternative gas suppliers. At the same time, authorities in the other entity, Republika Srpska, continue to develop separate gas connections with Serbia, including the Eastern Interconnection project from Bijeljina to Banja Luka.

For almost five decades, BiH has been completely dependent on gas from Russia, which arrives via the Turkish Stream and is mainly used for heating in Sarajevo, making it a negligible consumer compared to Serbia.

The agreement between BiH and Croatia on connecting the gas pipeline from Dalmatia to central Bosnia, with branches to Herzegovina and the northwest of the country, was signed with the participation of US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in Dubrovnik in April.

All this was preceded by months of official Washington's support for the project, which they called "strategic for the energy security of the region." The Croatian part of the project is led by the state-owned Plinacro, while in BiH, the designated project leader is the private American company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, whose directors are part of US President Donald Trump's inner circle.

The project has drawn criticism from the European Commission and the Energy Community, of which BiH is a member, due to a special (lex specialis) law in the Federation of BiH that included an American private company, as well as issues of compliance with EU rules.

"The project must be implemented within a framework that is fully aligned with the Energy Community acquis and the principles of EU energy policy," Hana Kleson, spokesperson for the European Energy Community (EnC), whose members include EU countries, BiH and the wider region, told RFE/RL.

BiH consumes up to 250 million cubic meters of gas annually, while the new gas pipeline should carry about 1,5 billion cubic meters, so the construction of gas-fired power plants that could supply electricity to about 400.000 households is also being considered. Currently, 80 percent of electricity is produced in coal-fired thermal power plants, some of which were built more than 50 years ago.

The planned gas pipeline would be connected to the existing one coming from Serbia.

However, Professor Jonathan Stern, from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, believes that the pipeline "is important for BiH, but not for the wider region." However, he doubts the profitability of the investment of around one billion euros, which is the estimated value of the new pipeline.

"Croatia does not have available LNG capacity for gas transit through Bosnia and Herzegovina. And where would it go? Serbia can now obtain it through Bulgaria," Stern told RFE/RL.

Strategic partnership between Serbia and the USA

Serbia is expanding its gas infrastructure in an effort to maintain its role as a regional energy hub, while at the same time opening up space for American LNG and new Western investments in the energy sector.

Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović signed a joint statement with the US and several countries from Eastern and Central Europe at a summit in Washington in February this year.

Srbijagas Director Dušan Bajatović subsequently stated that Serbia "will have to buy American gas," although quantities and formal contracts have not been defined.

The 2024 strategic energy agreement with the US envisages diversification of sources, but there is no formal agreement to purchase American LNG yet.

American gas could arrive via the Croatian terminal on Krk or the Greek Alexandroupolis thanks to new interconnections to Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

Serbia operates a network of around 2.500 kilometers of gas pipelines and is planning new ones, including to North Macedonia, and is expanding the Banatski Dvor storage facility.

Currently, more than 80 percent of its gas comes from Russia via the TurkStream pipeline. Despite announcements of diversification, key gas energy facilities in Serbia, including the modern combined heat and power plant TE-TO Pančevo, remain connected to Russia's Gazprom and the Serbian Petroleum Industry.

LNG terminal in Bar and gas power plants

Montenegro, although without a gas network, is becoming part of the US LNG framework through plans for a terminal in the Port of Bar and future gas-fired power plants.

Montenegro also participated in the US Transatlantic Gas Security Summit in Washington in February this year, where it signed a joint statement in which several Central and Southern European countries announced cooperation with the US in the energy sector.

Although the American companies Enerflex and Wethington Energy Innovation signed a memorandum with the Government of Montenegro in 2023 on the preparation of the project, no LNG supply has been agreed, quantities defined, or other contracts signed.

Podgorica has supported the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) project in recent years, which would connect the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in Albania with Croatia, but it is still in the conceptual phase.

A series of gas-fired power plants ranging from 50 to 400 megawatts are being considered in Bar, Podgorica and Pljevlja, including hybrid models and conversions of existing plants.

"All options considered are technically feasible and economically viable," according to studies prepared for the Electric Power Company of Montenegro by the Japanese JERA and the Swiss SS&A Power Consultancy.

Depending on the capacity of the plant and the source of gas supply, investments are estimated to range from 233 to 362 million euros.

Kosovo is currently out of the plans

Kosovo has no gas infrastructure and relies entirely on coal-fired power plants.

The gas interconnection project with North Macedonia was included in the EU's investment plan for the Western Balkans, but was halted due to, as the government stated, high costs and a strategic focus on renewable sources.

The pipeline would provide Kosovo with access to gas from Greek LNG terminals in the Aegean Sea, and the idea was also to build a pipeline to Albania.

"If and when market circumstances change and the business environment becomes more attractive, the [US] Department of Energy will stand ready to help connect US companies with partners in Kosovo," Joshua Volz, a special envoy for the US Department of Energy, told RFE/RL.

Kosovo refused to invest about $200 million in US money in gas infrastructure through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) program and redirected the funds to battery storage systems.

North Macedonia a key link in the southern corridor

Skopje is currently building new gas infrastructure with the support of Washington and Brussels, seeking to end decades of dependence on Russian gas and position itself as a new regional energy hub.

North Macedonia is a member of NATO and a candidate for EU membership, so diversification of supply has also become a geopolitical issue.

The key cogeneration plant TE-TO Skopje, which supplies the capital with heat and produces electricity, depends on Russian gas and is controlled by the Russian group Sintez.

Skopje has signed a memorandum with American suppliers to purchase American LNG, but details have not been made public.

The Gevgelija-Negotino gas pipeline is under construction and will connect this country to Greek LNG terminals, with an initial capacity of 1,5 billion cubic meters per year.

EU institutions are financing the project with a combination of loans and grants, while an interconnection with Serbia is being planned in parallel, with work scheduled to begin in 2027.

"North Macedonia plans to build 67 new energy facilities with a total installed capacity of 4.416 megawatts, including one cogeneration plant near Negotin," the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources of North Macedonia told RFE/RL.

Albanian LNG hub on the Adriatic

In April 2026, Albania signed a strategic agreement worth six billion dollars with the American company Venture Global and the Greek company Aktor LNG USA, which purchases LNG from the United States for long-term supply of liquefied gas from 2030.

The plan includes the development of an energy center in Vlora with an LNG terminal and a gas-fired power plant with a capacity of about 380 megawatts, with a connection to the existing Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will carry gas from Azerbaijan to Italy from 2020.

The project is supported by the US administration, which sees Albania as a potential entry point for the distribution of American gas to Kosovo, North Macedonia and other parts of the Western Balkans.

Albania does not have a functional internal gas network, and the existing infrastructure from the socialist era is largely unusable.

For Albania, which generates almost all of its electricity from hydroelectric power plants, building a new gas-fired power plant would be a safety reserve during periods of drought and rising consumption.

"The solution for gasification of Albania is the construction of the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) and connection to the LNG terminal in Croatia, connection to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that brings gas from the Caspian region, and the construction of an LNG terminal and gas storage facility in Dumrei," says Stavri Dhima, from the European University in Tirana who worked for 20 years at the Institute for Oil and Gas Research in Fier.

The LNG terminal in the port of Vlore could be a gas hub for supplying Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo, and through IAP and TAP, gas could also go to BiH and Italy.

"Infrastructure alone does not guarantee energy security," Sophie Korbo of the Center for Global Energy Policy in Paris told RFE/RL, speaking about plans to build new LNG terminals, gas pipelines and gas-fired power plants.

Korbo stressed that countries that want to reduce their dependence on Russian gas must first secure reliable long-term supply contracts with multiple other suppliers.