The investment plans of public energy companies in Albania are directly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. At best, it slowed them down and at worst, it completely froze investments in the first half of 2020. If the coronavirus was not enough, 2020 is another year with bad hydrology, which has huge impact since Albania is almost completely oriented to hydro generation and means that electricity imports will be the backbone for energy supply.
Electricity distribution system operator OSHEE reports that it managed to maintain a large portion of financial indicators, but revenues fell by 5 % in the first six months of the year, as a result of the pandemic. However, the situation has improved significantly in June. Losses in the distribution network in the second quarter of 2020 dropped to 18.4 %, compared to 19.7 % in the same period in 2019.
Power utility KESH has created an energy reserve of some 740 GWh in accumulations during spring, which should be enough to meet a significant part of the summer demand. Although the investment plan slowed due to the pandemic, the company continues with two projects – the development of the feasibility study for hydropower plant Skavica and the construction of floating solar power plant on the accumulation of HPP Vau te Dejes.
In the private sector, Devoll Hydropower, owned and operated by Norwegian Statkraft, started the commercial operation of HPP Moglice in late June. However, the company estimates that disruptions in the market could be expected due to the coronavirus pandemic.
