TIRANA, March 27 – Although one of Europe’s poorest countries, Albania ranks among the top global performers when it comes to its ability to deliver secure, affordable and sustainable energy, according to a report by Switzerland-based World Economic Forum.
Thanks to its large supplies of natural resources, mainly hydro-dependent electricity and huge oil and mineral production, Albania ranked 25th among 127 countries in the 2017 Global Energy Performance report, losing eight spots compared to last year when it ranked 17th outperforming all South East Europe countries.
On a 0 to 1 scale, Albania scored an average of 0.7 on economic growth and development, environment sustainability and energy access and security, measuring the extent to which energy architecture supports economic growth, the environmental impact of energy supply and consumption and the rate to which energy supply is secure accessible and diversified.
“Although the top 20 performers commonly have a high GDP per capita, an advanced economy by no means guarantees a high-performing energy sector, nor is it a prerequisite. Paraguay (22nd) and Albania (25th) are strong examples of this, with GDPs per capita in the bottom 40 percent for the cohort, yet are found in the top 20 percent of the Energy Architecture Performance Index,” says the World Economic Forum report, noting that countries with large supplies of natural resources are at an advantage in being able to boost their economies and provide their populations with secure, low-cost energy, if managed well.
With the exception of Norway, Colombia and Denmark, all top 20 performers are net importers of energy, reflecting their lack of natural resource endowment.
Albania secures 100 percent of its domestically produced electricity from hydropower plants and produces huge amounts of oil and minerals, the majority of which are destined for exports.
A recent Eurostat report put Albania among Europe’s best renewable energy performers, mainly due to its wholly hydro-dependent domestic electricity generation meeting about 80 percent of the country’s needs. The rapid development of the country’s oil industry in the past decade has also turned Albania into one of Europe’s top three least dependent countries on imports of fossil fuels, according to another report by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office.
However, due to its long-mismanaged electricity system still facing high grid losses and lack of a proper domestic oil refining industry coupled with high tax burden on oil, the country faces the region’s highest electricity and fuel prices, being a key burden for both households and businesses in a country with one of Europe’s lowest GDP per capita.
