“The hydroelectricity reserve at the Drin cascade is high at 1.5 billion kWh, a sufficient amount to handle the drought period in summer,” says KESH director Velaj
TIRANA, June 18 – Albania’s Power Corporation KESH says it has suspended electricity exports after collecting around Euro 30 million in the past three months. KESH’s director Halit Velaj says the stop of electricity exports will allow KESH to meet the country’s needs with domestic hydro-electricity generation during summer guaranteeing 24/7 power supply, saving money in a period when Albania in general imports electricity.
The situation is a result of the favourable situation in the country’s biggest hydropower plants in the River Drin Cascade where water levels are at their maximum levels following heavy rains in the past few months.
“The hydroelectricity reserve at the Drin cascade is high at1.5 billion kWh, a sufficient amount to handle the drought period in summer,” said Velaj.
KESH says the amount collected from electricity exports was used to compensate 60 percent of damage caused by flooding as a result of the compulsory opening of the dam gates in the northern Drin Cascade in the past couple of years. “At the moment we started exporting, one of the main obligations was the settlement of flooded areas. Currently, about 60 percent of compensation has been paid,” Velaj said. The KESH director said that cooperation with CEZ has improved following the shift of the distribution operator under state management in January 2013 after the Czechs had their licence revoked.
CEZ is currently paying the electricity it gets from KESH but has not started paying old debts to KESH yet.
The favourable hydro situation is also improving the finances of KESH which has been facing difficult times from drought period in 2012 and CEZ’s inability to carry out electricity imports in late 2012.
Government awarded KESH 2 billion lek (Euro 14 million) from its contingency funds in early 2012 to make electricity imports, and Euro 40 million few months.
Since September 2012, when CEZ declared its financial inability to carry out its compulsory power imports, state-run power corporation KESH was forced to carry out all imports, a situation which further deteriorated the utility’s finances and obliged government to award several loan guarantees to secure power supply.
State-run power corporation KESH says it plans to pay off half of debts it owes to small private and concession hydropower plants for electricity purchases during the past couple of years. The payments will be made ahead of the June 23 general elections after the company’s finances have considerably improved following heavy rains which have also allowed the corporation to export electricity in the past couple of months.
KESH’s director Halit Vela told reporters the corporation owes small hydropower plants 2 billion lek (Euro 14 million), half of which will be paid off until the end of next June.
KESH says distribution operator CEZ Shperdarje, currently under state administration after the Czechs had their licence revoked, owes the corporation Euro 260 million in accumulated debts, considerably affecting the corporation’s finances.
