Serbia tries to damage Kosovo, unable to transport electricity

Commercial energy operators cannot trade electricity at the power limit of the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia, says in a response by the Office for Information of the Transmission System and Electricity Market of Kosovo (KOSTT).

This break has occurred since December 14th, when COSTT has begun operating as independent and controls Kosovo's energy limits.

“Econtinually, no commercial electricity transactions are made on the Kosovo energy border, but cross-border lines are in operation, and power flows to”, says a COST response.

According to COSTT, the reason why there is still no trade in Kosovo cross-border lines- Serbia is because Serbian operator EMS (Serbia's Electronic-Energy Network) has not yet made agreements with COSTT on capacity trading.

Free Europe Radio has sent EMS questions on this issue and on such an agreement, but so far there has been no response.

But, CoSTT officials say, this does not mean that traders do not have the opportunity to trade electricity to the target destination, as they can exploit other alternative routes.

Knees: Serbia has misused the testing phase

Kosovo's energy issue recogniser, Arben Djukaj, says Serbia, exploiting the transitional phase of independence of Kosovo's transmission network, has sold non-transparentally and against the rules for cross-border trade in transmission capacities, on the lines between Kosovo and Serbia (400 and 220) kilovolt (KV).

All this, according to him, was done because Serbia's transmission operator, EMS has not collaborated with Kosovo's transmission operator, COSTT, in the transitional phase of starting COSTT operation as an independent regulatory zone with Albania. This situation will be until 31 December, as Serbia has declared zero the total capacity of interstate transmission lines that have gone towards Kosovo. He adds that there are no cheap capacities in these lines for businessmen who want to sell or buy energy in Kosovo or vice versa.

“in this situation the only way to trade electricity for businessmen and other local operators is to use alternative routes that are the transmission lines with other neighbouring countries linking Kosovo with the” region, Djukaj says.

At the December 1, 2020 meeting of the Continental Europe Group (RGCE), the body of NTSO, all operators of the Transmission System (OST) have pledged to support COST in the transition phase as an independent area of Albania-Kosovo.

Knees: Alternative lines use has higher costs

Djukaj says using alternative lines from operators has higher costs.

This is logical because the most distant route has cost of transportation or use of the network. This is normal, for that reason the rules and all directives of the European Union have prompted Southeast European countries to open borders and be more transparent, to help each other in interconction even in energy trading so that the consumers of the respective countries can benefit from the cheapest prices of”, Gjukaj notes.

COMM The STT since 14 December operates as independent and controls Kosovo's energy borders. Kosovo's exit from the SMM regulatory block (Serbia, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia) and its inclusion in a bloc with Albania was envisioned with an agreement between COST and the European Network of Energy Transition System Operators (ENTSO) in June. It took effect on 29 September.

Immediately after the start of the independent COST operation, Serbia has stopped broadcasting 500 megawatts of electricity Kosovo imported from this state, it has announced to Radio Free Europe on Tuesday Nebit Zariqi, member of the COST board.

Kosovo Government Minister of Economy and Environment Blerim Kuci has already said Thursday that Serbia is violating the Energy Community Treaty, blocking transmission lines for Kosovo.

He has made these comments at a meeting of the Energy Community Council of Ministers, which this time has been held in the leadership of Montenegro, following Kosovo's energy independence.

According to Kuci, these actions are unacceptable and should be sanctioned by the European Union.