TIRANA, Nov. 9 – Albania has by far the lowest CO2 emissions per capita in the region but its challenge is to diversify its hydropower-dependent energy mix without increasing emissions while taking adequate measures to preserve biodiversity, according to a report prepared by Bosnia-based SEE Change Net as part of the South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy project.
The report shows Albania and Kosovo have the least diverse electricity mixes in the region, with Kosovo generating 97 percent of its electricity from coal and Albania generating 100 percent of its electricity from hydropower since 2010.
Earlier this year, Albania and Kosovo inaugurated a German-funded 400 kV interconnection line that will help the two neighboring countries increase energy security by diversifying electricity resources and set up a joint energy market. The new interconnection line and the power exchange will help Kosovo’s lignite-fired power plants and Albania’s hydro-dependent electricity system exchange electricity during their peak production levels, reducing dependency on costly imports.
The interconnection line inaugurated in mid-2016 is set to be made operational as the Vienna-based Energy Community Secretariat, an international organization dealing with energy policy, has warned of sanctions against Serbia in case it does not settle its transmission grid dispute with Kosovo by the end of this year.
The report also notes Albania and Kosovo have the highest electric power losses in the region. “In 2015 one third of electricity in Albania and Kosovo was lost or stolen in transmission and distribution.”
Albania was in 2015 still 100 percent reliant on hydropower for electricity and had no wind generation or solar PV generation.
