Albania’s total electricity generation in 2021 amounted to 8.9 TWh, which is 6.5 % higher compared to the country’s electricity consumption, which reached 8.4 TWh last year.
However, about 225 million euros were spent in 2021 on the purchase of electricity on the free market, which is a record amount. This is a consequence of huge increase in prices on foreign exchanges in the second half of the year.
Despite a difficult year, Albania exported 2.8 TWh of electricity. It is estimated that exports accounted for a third of production, or 31.2 %. The largest exports were realized in the first half of the year, when heavy rainfall was recorded.
State-owned KESH produced 5.3 TWh of electricity in 2021. Of that, 3.9 TWh was provided to the universal supplier FTL, which is part of the OSHEE group, which covered 47 % of the country’s total consumption.
About 26% of domestic production was provided by eligible producers, i.e. hydropower plants with a capacity of up to 15 MW. This electricity was purchased by FTL at a price determined each year on the basis of the average price realized on the Hungarian energy exchange HUPX. Also, FTL bought some 40 GWh of electricity from solar power plants, at a price of 76 euros/MWh.
Purchases of electricity on the free market from September to December 2021 were characterized by extremely high prices, which reached over 350 euros/MWh. Since October, when the Government declared a state of emergency in the energy sector, independent producers have been selling electricity in the country at price equal to those on the energy exchanges.
In the liberalized market, FTL bought 1.13 TWh of E electricity, which covered about 13.5 % of total consumption.
