KESH has also announced a tender to buy fuel for the newly built Vlora thermal power plant, whose cost is estimated higher than imported electricity if operated on diesel and not natural gas.
TIRANA, Nov. 29 – With water levels at the northern Drin cascade where the biggest hydropower plants are situated at a critical quota because of the ongoing drought, state power utility KESH is struggling to import energy considering the similar situation in regional countries. KESH has also announced a tender to buy fuel for the newly built Vlora thermal power plant, whose cost is estimated higher than imported electricity if operated on diesel and not natural gas.
Speaking at a press conference this week, KESH’s director Engjell Zeqo said 17.5 million kWh of imported electricity had been insured for December 2011 in cooperation with distribution operator CEZ Shperndarje. “We are importing at these high levels to preserve the quotas in the Fierza hydropower plants, hoping that rainfall will resume because otherwise we would be in severe difficulty if this goes on for more weeks,” said Zeqo.
Last month, the water level in the Drin cascade where the three biggest hydropower plants are situated was at 270 meters, only 5 meters below the minimum quota
Low rainfall severely affected domestic electricity production during the first half of this year in Albania.
Latest data published by the country’s Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) show domestically produced electricity dropped by 45.1 percent year-on-year during the first half of 2011. The situation was a result of the drop in hydro-electricity production which accounts for 96.1 of total domestic production.
Lower domestic production also increased the need for electricity imports which including exchanges rose by more than 8 times to 1.4 million MWh during the first half of this year.
Data also show power consumption rose by 8.7 percent during the first half of this year.
Revenues of state owned Albanian Power Corporation, KESH, in 2010 reached 27 billion lek (around 200 million euros). The record level of electricity exports were one of the main contributors to the country’s total exports.
Heavy rains forced KESH to open the water discharge gates several times last year, causing huge flood damage to the Shkodra region, some areas of which were inundated five times during 2010.
State-owned power corporation, KESH, has proposed raising electricity prices for CEZ Shperndarje distribution operator by 3.4 times compared to the current tariff. The proposal submitted to the Regulatory Energy Entity foresees increasing the tariff to 5.03 lek/kWh, from 1.48 lek/kWh currently.
At the end of 2010, a decision by the Energy Regulatory Entity obliged state owned electricity producer KESH to sell energy to private distribution operator CEZ at 1.48 lek kWh starting from next January, down from 2.03 lek currently, considerably increasing the Czech company’s revenues which had desperately demanded price increases to handle rising costs and new grid investments.
Vlora thermal power fuel tender
Albania’s Public Procurement Agency has announced a 709 million lek (around USD 7 million) tender to buy fuel for the new Vlora thermal power plant which has not been put to use yet. Bids opening for the tender, estimated to provide 4,200 tons of oil, will be held in Vlora on Jan. 11, 2012.
The newly built thermal power plant in the coastal city of Vlora could produce electricity at a lower cost of up to 40 percent if operated on liquefied natural gas instead of D2 diesel, according to a study carried out by the Albanian Energy Regulatory Agency (ERE). Study findings show the cost of 1 kWh produced with D2 diesel is at 0.183 dollar, a very high rate which makes the use of gas to produce electricity in this plant a necessity.
However, considering Albania’s lack of natural gas pipelines, ERE suggest that the power plant should be run on liquefied natural gas, which would require the construction of a nearby terminal.
The study says the positive impact of using gas instead diesel is both environmental and economical. If gas-fuelled, the thermal power plant would emit 80 percent less of carbon dioxide and lower the EU carbon tax for Albania to 1.8 million euros a year under current capacity and to around 5.3 if the capacity is trebled.
