Albania is at a crucial point of development
of its energy sector, which has been seriously neglected over the last years.
The settlement at the end of 2014 of the investment dispute with CEZ and the
selection of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) as the pipeline opening the Southern
Corridor are two important milestones, which could and should turn into real
game-changers. The potential arrival of gas and the abundance of renewable
energy make Albania an interesting destination in terms of energy.
In order to take advantage of that, the
sector needs to be completely rebooted. This, in turn, requires designing a
compliant legal framework essentially from scratch, improving the financial
situation of the state-owned companies, curbing the unsustainably high share of
unpaid electricity and establishing truly independent and proactive enforcement
authorities.
Referring to the most important millstone for
each sector can summary:
– Electricity
June 2015: The new Power Sector Law compliant with the Third Energy Package
enters into force.
– Electricity
May 2015: Under the umbrella CAO SEE, daily auctions on Albanian-Montenegro
border started successfully on 30th of April for delivery day 1st of May 2015.
– Renewable
Energy March 2015: Albania submitted the Secretariat the Progress Report on the
Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC.
– Gas
December 2014: The Ministry of Energy and Industry’s Working Group developed
draft Gas Law, based on the Secretariat’s initial version.
– Energy
Efficiency December 2014: Secretariat submitted a draft law on energy
efficiency of buildings to the Albanian Ministry. If adopted, the law would
transpose the Buildings Directive.
– Competition
October 2014: The Albanian Competition Authority (ACA) adopted a Recommendation
for increasing competition in the market for procurement of electricity to
cover losses in the distribution network
Attracting of the investment is the rationale
behind many of the here above measures and actions taken. However, the private
investment has remained far below the levels hoped. Nerveless in October 2013,
“The Ministerial Council adopted the list of Projects of Energy Community
interest (PECls) and called on the Contracting Parties to take necessary
actions to facilitate their timely and effective implementation.
An Implementation Report in 2014 concluded that the
implementation needs a much stronger and better-coordinated efforts from all
parties involved: public companies and governments, IFIs, private investors, the
European Commission, as well as the Secretariat. In the European Union a new
financial instrument, Connecting Europe Facility, was developed to support the
implementation of Projects of Common Interest.
In the Energy Community as a regional context of reference
for Albania, there is limited specific funding available to support these
projects at a cost of capital that could be borne by the energy consumers. In the current moment in the WBs countries
are bracing themselves for the next summit to be held in Vienna this August,
seeing as a crucial, in order to encourage foreign private investment in power
generation, cross-border interconnectors, and more significant use of renewable
energy and efficiency measure, etc.
The here
above presentation came within framework of preparation to an overview analytic
report about liberalisation and organised market in Albania, to be release very
soon by ACERC. In cases of interest to the direct involvement as author with
analyses or for any other forms of support and partnership, contact us at the
info@albaniaenergy.org. For more keep update with the EU & WBs / Albania Energy
Regulatory Updates
or visit the Official Page of
ACERC.