TIRANA, August 04ؔhe energy sector is perhaps the only one in the Albanian economy that has overcome the global economic crisis by showing progress in all its indicators. Bank of Albania (BoA) has analyzed the sector concluding a considerable growth during 2009.
According to the highest monetary institutions in the country, the positive performance in the energy sector is attributed to the generous supply in hydro resources and improvement in their management.
“The main performance indicators in the energy sector have shown a positive growth in the first five months of 2009. The continuous improvement in hydro resources throughout the year have made a growth in domestic production by 52%. We find it encouraging that distribution and transmition of produced energy has also improved, therefore showing a decline in technical and nontechnical losses,” notes BoA in its report.
The Albanian Central Bank has also confirmed that electric energy exports have for the first time this year overcome imports. Albanian Electroenergy Corporation (KESH) started exporting electricity toward Albania’s neighbours, mainly Kosovo and Greece, since January 2009.
“Even though the country has historically been a net importer of electric energy, data from KESH report that its balance sheet for the first five months of 2009 reveal a positive trade balance for the first time ever. The export of 82.4 giga watt hours in 2009 for a total overturn of 15 million euro has considerably improved not only KESH’s financial situation, but also the country’s trade balance,” states BoA.
BoA is also quick to note that the domestic consuming structure of energy has not changed from previous years and trends. Families continue to make up for around 60% of the demand, while the private sector and public institutions count for 25% and 15% of the market respectively.
A torrent of investments
The government has invested heavily in the energy sector which remains an attractive one for foreign investors. Total investments in the last 3 years amount to 3.1 billion euro. Albania managed for the first time in 2008 to guarantee non stop supply with electric energy to its citizens, after suffering several energy crisis in the previous years.
In 2009, Albania secured another 4.3billion euro in investments for three other major energy projects:
-In January, a 1billion euro deal was signed with Italy’s Marseglia Group to build a 140-MW liquid biomass energy plant and two 234-MW wind farms;
-In March, a 2 billion euro agreement was reached with Italy’s biggest power company, Enel to build an 800-MW coal-fired power plant with a generating capacity of approximately 1,300 MW, which would supply electricity to both the Italian and Albanian markets. The deal also includes the construction of a jetty for coal-carrying ships, a 400-kV aerial transmission line to link up to the Albanian grid and a 500-kV line under the Adriatic Sea to connect to the Italian grid;
-In May, a 1.25 billion Wind Park agreement was awarded to the Albanian subsidiary, Enpower Albania, of the Italian Moncada Energy Group. The project aims to build a 500-MW wind farm, and a 400-kV power transmission line to link Albania with Italy.
In addition, a 5.3 billion USD controversial plan was announced in April by Albania and Croatia to jointly build a 1,500-MW nuclear power plant at Lake Shkoder, close to the border with Montenegro, which is fighting the proposal.
Power output up 52%
Albania generated 2,600 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity through May, up by 52% on the year, BoA reported.
The country imported 222.1 GWh over the five-month period, down by 82% from a year earlier, the BoA said, quoting data of state-owned power utility KESH.
Albania relies almost entirely on its hydro power resources to meet domestic energy demand.
Electricity production dropped by 45% to 2,946 GWh in 2007 due to a severe drought, plunging the country into one of its worst energy crises, with blackouts of up to 20-1/2 hours, as the dry spell depleted water reserves.
In 2009, on the back of abundant snow- and rainfall, Albania made its first ever electricity exports, selling a total of 304.5 GWh of electricity abroad through May, mainly to Greece.
Due to intense investment in the upgrading of the existing transmission and distribution network, the country successfully cut transmission losses by 10 percentage points to 39% over the five-month period, data showed.
Albania’s total power consumption rose to 2,747 GWh through May, up by 2.0% on the year. Households accounted for some 1,000 GWh of the total intake.
Albania’s power consumption rose by 12.4% to 6,608 GWh in 2008. The country produced 3,849 GWh of energy and imported 2,475 GWh that year.
In Albania, electricity consumption per capita is approximately 2 MWh, much lower than the European average. However, analysts expect electricity consumption to grow by 5% each year, a rate that’s second in the region only to Turkey
