KESH gets loan from Raiffeisen Albania

TIRANA, Feb.9 – KESH agreed with Raiffeisen Albania on Friday to sign a 10 million euro ($12.9 million) credit agreement to help the country’s power utility import electricity in 2007 and reduce drastic electricity rationing. The credit was approved last month, Raiffeisen Albania said in a statement. KESH plans to import between 2.2 billion kWh and 2.4 billion kWh this year. Albania’s daily energy demand exceeds by far the quota of local production which is around half of what is needed. The rest is provided from daily imports that currently reach some eight million kilowatt-hours, according to data from KESH. The country consumes an average of 18 million kilowatt-hours a day. There is controversy over the reasons of this crisis between the ruling majority that argues for the dry weather and the problems faced with the network of distribution and the opposition which accuse KESH of mismanagement. The excess reliance on hydropower has indeed been one of the primary factors as Albania is not having almost any rainfall in the cold season. The import situation has worsened with Bulgaria closing down the nuclear plant Kozloduy upon accession in the EU, starting January 1 of this year. Bulgaria which used to be the leading exporter to the region has restructured all its electricity schemes to adapt to the new conditions. In an effort to slow the depletion of its scarce water reserves used for power generation and keep enough water at the lake of Fierze, where its largest electricity producing unit is located, Albania increased the daily power imports to 11.2 million kilowatthours (kWh) in late January. Albania is expected to start building a 92 million euro thermal power plant in Vlore, the second of its kind in the country, later this year. KESH hired Italian construction-to-services company Maire Engineering to build the 85-to-135 megawatt (MW) combined-cycle power plant, to be fueled by distillate oil.