By Ardit Bejko
TIRANA, July 6 – Albanians are consuming more electricity compared to last year, said Sahit Dollapi, Head of the Power Distribution Operator (OSSH), at a recent press conference.
There has been a 30 percent increase, from 13.8 million to 16.3 million Megawatts per hour, Dollapi said. The current levels of electricity usage represent an all-time high in the consumption during this time of the year, he added.
The region that eats up the largest amount of power is Tirana. “Tirana consumes 5.2 million kilowatts per hour of electricity per day,” Dollapi said. The capital consumes about 1.3 million kilowatts per hour more than compared to last year.
The increase in energy consumption have also been accompanied by interruptions in the power supply in Tirana and other areas of the country. However, the country is not going through a shortage period, Dollapi said. The Albanian Power Corporation (KESH) is undertaking maintenance in the distribution system and in some small regional distribution stations. OSSH is interrupting the distribution of electricity due to this maintenance, Dollapi added.
The government has promised that the country would receive a constant supply of electricity during the summer months. However, the hot and dry weather has decreased the water level in the dams in the power plants in Northern Albania. As a result, the Ministry of Energy said it has procured imported electricity to compensate for low levels of production.
“At the moment, the country is receiving electricity almost 24 hours a day,” said Dollapi. The current hike in consumption offsets the consequences of the interruptions and brings them “close to zero,” added Dollapi.
OSSH will continue with power interruptions until the maintenance work is finished. Dollapi said they expect the work to be completed by the end of September. Currently, the interruptions range from two to three hours up to four to five hours, he added.
Since July 1, OSSH has become a separate agency from its state-owned mother institution, KESH. The government has previously decided to sell the distribution operator to a private company. Four foreign companies – the Italian ENEL, the Swiss EVN, the Czech CEZ, and the Austrian Energy Teiermark – have expressed interest in buying OSSH. The Albanian Electricity Regulatory Authority is currently reviewing their bids and will announce its decision in September. Until then, OSSH will maintain its “relative” independence from KESH, Dollapi said.
