TIRANA, July 18 – Minister of Economy, Industry and Energy, Genc Ruli. warned on Wednesday that there will be a difficult winter due to insufficient power supplies.
The minister said the country was already in a crisis because of the lack of water in rivers where hydroelectric stations are built and also because of the difficulties in importing power from the region that has been adversely affected by this summer as well.
Ruli said water was flowing at 13 cubic meters per second, the lowest level in the last 80 years in the Drini River, where the main power stations are located. They are now producing some 6 million kWh.
Ruli said the winter would be difficult even if there are heavy rains as this will only bring a slight improvement as they “cannot replace the missing water now in the Drini cascade.”
The minister said they were having difficulty even now in importing some 6 million kWh because of the difficulties in neighboring Macedonia and Greece.
“It is not possible to find more energy,” he said.
People are suffering power cuts from 5 to 14 hours nationwide.
The minister said they were giving priority to tourist areas, main institutions and areas where business was concentrated. They had also appealed to business to take some activity overnight if possible.
The minister appealed for understanding from the people for the lack of continuous power supply.
