Albania faces power crisis

Albania faces power crisis


Albania is being gripped in a difficult situation of short power supply and expecting to overcome the crisis by imports, an Albanian official said on Thursday.
"The energy situation is difficult, but we believe it can be managed," said Andi Beli, general director of KESH, the Albanian national utility company.
In the past four days, residents in the Albanian capital city of Tirana have suffered power cuts of four to six hours a day.
In other parts of the country, power cuts last longer. Electricity in some villages were cut off even for 14 hours a day.
Albania depends heavily on hydropower, with 90 percent of its electricity produced from the northern waters. But lack of rainfall has caused significant drop of water levels at northern Albanian plants.
"The low water level is similar to that in 1953," explained Beli.
The KESH's problems have also been compounded by high energy prices.
Beli said that Romania and Bulgaria had dramatically reduced their export of electricity to other Balkan countries this year, causing power price to rise 100 percent.
Since 1990, Albania, who once exported hydropower to its Balkan neighbors, has suffered chronic power problems due to soaring domestic consumption, non-payment, aging system and poor maintenance.
Source: Xinhua