Albania threatened of another energy crisis

TIRANA, Nov. 15 – The state owned power corporation KESH is trying hard to convince consumers pay their money and also finding difficult to offer a continuous 24-hour supply due to colder weather. Developments in Bulgaria, which is obliged to close down one of its nuclear reactors in January, are a serious threat to the tiny Balkan country which bases much of its winter supply on imports. An international tender held earlier this month brought bids by seven companies but none of them was offering the total amount the country was asking for. They could provide less than half of 2.2 billion MWh asked by KESH. Moreover they all had a significantly higher price compared to that of last year. Albania is expected to suffer more than other Balkan countries because its financial and technical capacities are limited. Experts in Tirana says that even if someone could offer electricity to sell to Albania, with the average market price of Euro 80/MWh, the country will need more than 200 million Euro to pay for all its energy needed. KESH, which offered 162 million Euro for the tender, has a total annual revenue of 200 million Euro, so the corporation would in no case be able to pay the bill. KESH problem is also the fact that the average selling price of electricity in Albania is 7.01 leks (0.06 leks), so KESH would still not be able to cover the bill for imports from its own revenues. KESH top manager Andi Beli is on a visit to Spain asking local businesses to invest in the Albanian energy sector. KESH is in the preparations of selling part of the corporation, the distribution department.In an angry note last weekend KESH warned consumers in Shkodra not only to pay their money but also to take care of the materials used from KESH to rehabilitate their network. A KESH statement angrily denounced theft of the cable used by a Croatian company to install a 110 KW new line for the northern city with a total investment of 11 million Euro. The statement said stealing 12 meters of the cable used for the system was threatening the continuation of the project from the Croatian company.
The corporation publishes daily the list of the consumers, be they individuals, private or public companies that have not paid their duties for the power consume. Meanwhile power cuts are often in many parts of the country, including the capital, though still they are brief by one hour or so.