TIRANA, Feb. 9 – Thanks to its huge oil and renewable hydro-electricity production, Albania is one of Europe’s least dependant countries on energy imports, according to a report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Data shows Albania’s energy dependency, which shows the extent to which an economy relies upon imports to meet its energy needs, was at 25 percent in 2013.
At 25 percent, Albania’s energy dependency is higher only compared to Estonia’s 12 percent, Denmark’s 12.3 percent, Romania’s 18.6 percent and Serbia’s 23.5 percent in the 33 country-list Eurostat has published.
In 2013, Albania’s gross inland energy consumption, which reflects the energy necessary to satisfy inland consumption, amounted to 2.6 tonnes of oil equivalent Mtoe, back to its early 1990s level and up 24 compared to 2012.
Oil accounted for 58 percent of Albania’s primary production by energy type in 2013 followed by renewable sources with 41.4 percent and gas with 0.7 percent.
Albania’s huge renewable electricity production is a result of dozens of hydropower plants, the largest of which are managed by state-run KESH power corporation.
Meanwhile, oil production is a result of Bankers Petroleum, the country’s biggest foreign investor, which since 2004 operates and has the full rights to develop the Patos-Marinza and Kuçova heavy oilfields under a 25-year concession contract with the Albanian government.
