EU official: Serbs knew Kosovo would join Albania's energy regulatory system

I know that signing that contract has long been planned. Two weeks ago at the Annual Meeting of the European Transmission System Operators Association (ENTSO-E) in Helsinki, in which EMS Director Jelena Matejic and her team all knew the contract issue. And I can't imagine this hasn't been coordinated, but that's what the competent authorities of NTSOCE” have said in an interview for Beta Copac.

COMM STT and the Albanian Transmission System Operator announced on December 3rd this year that they have signed a contract in Tirana to create a Kosovo-Albania Energy System regulatory block, which has been set to take effect since April 20th 2020, where Kosovo will be outside the EMSCE regulatory zone.

Kopac estimated that such <x0).>operation” and an agreement has no political compromise as it is being claimed in Serbia.

“EMS itself operates in the regulatory bloc with Montenegro and Northern Macedonia (SM block). It is the same with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. Such ties are very functional and have the logic of reserve resource optimism.”, Kopac said.

Infinite Accumulation of Unpaid Debt

He stressed that the problem between Serbia and Kosovo “has several aspects because there are many open issues between COST and EMS, and most importantly, there is an endless accumulate of outstanding debts between the two operators”.

“owes for electricity that COSTT has supplied for Kosovo's north for years. There is COSTT's debt to EMS to balance the system it manages. EMS uses an operating and maintained network of COSTS for cross-border capacity sharing (transmation), where some of its revenue should go to COST “, Kopac added.

EMS) According to his words, it was agreed three years ago that revenues from cross-border electricity transmission should be divided into half with COST, but they did not share.

While according to the Codic Energy Community, anti-verbal proceedings against Serbia have been launched for violating the Energy Community Treaty.

The debt issue COST should pay for banks for building 400 kilowatt cables in Albania, which are not being used, because EMS block complete CO membership STT at ENTSO-E and that's why KO STT cannot operate on the international market alone. ” he said.

He noted that “has other mutual debts, but it appears that the ENTSO-E has decided to put an end to this”.

He said it could be easier for everyone now, even though the collection of bilateral debts remains unresolved.

Lowering frequency below 50 Hz is a precedent in Europe

The problem also became international because KO STT, as an operator for more than a year and a half, did not keep the 50-site frequency on the transmission network, and was initiated by the fact that electricity in northern Kosovo is not paid, but even if the money is paid does not go to COST”, he said in his interview.

He said the amount of electricity spent in northern Kosovo, which could be called <x0-virgin” is so large, even bigger than the current they've spent.

This drop of frequency below 50 Hz was certainly a precedent in Europe because something like that never happened before. Every operator obeys the frequency rules, alone. COSTT not. On the other hand, according to the COSTT principle, it is not obliged to adhere to frequency rules because it does not operate as a regulatory zone, because EMS has not allowed it to become an ENTSO-E member.”, Kopac said.

EMS could play a key role in regional market integration

By April 2020, COSTT is expected to take over the Kosovo area and Albanian operator in COST and the OST bloc. That makes it possible. EMS, with clever politics, take the lead in integrating the regional market in the Western Balkans.

All operators including COST and COSTT with EMS at the helm could once be integrated into a Balkan regulatory block”, Kopac said, adding that this would benefit all, and regional market integration is also the point of membership in the Energy Community.

Asked whether ENTSO-E would deal with the issue of who owns the Kosovo transmission network, Kopac said it was not in its competence and that COST is a certified operator because of the fact that he operates that network.

This is a fact. Serbia's efforts to block Kosovo's entry into NTSO-E may have wanted to ensure the formation of “Zajednica” The Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo, but the technical problem of the frequency remained unresolved for a long time, and Serbia, in its insistence, lost some good opportunities to solve the problem at the operator's level of”, he said.

He added that Serbia thus remained alone on the international stage, so it found a second way to solve the problem related to NTSO-E.

ENTSO-E members, he says, have said they are technical companies and do not want to deal with political problems.

All other problems related to the energy sector between Serbia and Kosovo remain unresolved, but I think it will be easier now with EMS. I hope it will be easier for COSTST and OST Albanians to take responsibility for the body's” regulatory block, Kopac has finished.