Should Albania's energy mix include more renewables?

While Albania’s energy mix already features one of the highest shares of renewables in the region owing to its extensive installed hydropower capacity, the essential need remains for a more secure, cost-competitive national energy supply. Diversifying the electricity mix to include more renewables would strengthen Albania’s energy security.

What is Albania's energy mix?

Hydropower accounts for the largest share of the country’s electricity generation, representing around 95% of the Albania’s installed power capacity. This means Albania’s energy mix has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in South East Europe; however, it is also highly dependent on annual rainfall.

Why is the power sector struggling in Albania?

This signals the power sector’s extreme vulnerability to climatic changes and the urgent need to diversify away from hydropower to ensure energy supply security. The electricity system in Albania is also suffering from high losses.

What is Albania's energy sector strategy?

In 2018, Albania adopted its National Energy Sector Strategy, which examined various energy development scenarios and set forth a series of key indicators and objectives that will shape Albanian’s energy sector over the period from 2018 to 2030 (Table 2). Most notably, the strategy stipulated a 42% share of renewable energy in the TPES by 2030.

How much power does Albania have?

As shown in Figure 2, the Albanian power system is dominated by hydropower, representing 95% of the country’s installed capacity with a total of 2 096 MW installed.

Why is Albania so reliant on hydropower?

y, with the remaining divided between solar (1%) and crude oil (4%). The remaining share of supply comes from imports maki g Albania a net energy importer and thus heavily reliant on imports. Being also heavily reliant on hydropower also means that renewable generation is sensitive to rainfall, of which has seen