Energy Community urges adoption of legal framework

TIRANA, Nov. 20 – Full transposition of the Energy Community legal framework is urgently needed to consolidate the Albanian energy sector, especially electricity, and attract new investors, following the loss of investor confidence due to the dispute with CEZ Shperndarje, Energy Community Director Janez Kopač said during a visit to Albania this week. The Energy Community delegation presented the Secretariat’s Annual Implementation Report to the Albanian Parliament’s Energy Committee. Discussions with Albanian authorities focused on the state of play of Albania’s transposition of the Energy Community acquis communautaire, which is particularly lagging behind in the electricity, gas and energy efficiency sectors.
Albania has failed to update its legal framework in the electricity sector, and remains one of the least compliant in the Energy Community, says a 2013 annual report by the Vienna-based Energy Community Secretariat, an international organization dealing with energy policy in Europe.
“In Albania, the virtually complete reliance on hydro-power, and the low financial liquidity of the electricity sector, caused by an unsustainably high level of losses, a low collection rate, non-payment by the public sector are obstacles for the sustainable development of the electricity market and security of supply,” says the report, describing the revocation of Czech-run CEZ Shperndarje distribution operator as an unprecedented event in the Contracting Parties to the Energy Community.