REL: Did Kosovo see the argument with subsidies for efficient equipment?

Up to eight hours without electricity have been faced by two owners of production companies from Ferizaj and Maliseva. This situation has made their production process difficult and has increased spending, writes Radio Free Europe.

In this situation, Qazim Mustafa, owner of a furniture production factory in Ferizaj, has been facing two weeks. The same was true Thursday, December 26.

We're tired of this situation. We have big demands at the end of the year, but we cannot meet them. Customers expect products, but we have nothing to do. Me and 13 workers stand by a wooden stove we bought to warm up when there is no 34x1> power, he told Radio Free Europe.

Similar problems are being experienced by residents and businesses in the municipality of Malisheva since early December.

Albanian Kastrati, a financial manager at a factory that deals with natural and marble stone production and processing, said the situation has forced all employees to go on vacation.

The reductions last between two and eight hours. The generator work is affordable financially because production also reaches only 30 percent of normal capacity. Therefore, 20 workers are on leave until the second week of January”, Kastrati added.

ZERE: Kosovo pays over onem euros a day for electricity import

In recent days, low temperatures have increased electricity consumption, while energy institutions in the country are constantly appealing to consumers for savings.

According to the Economy Ministry, the most difficult situation has been in the municipalities of Ferizaj, Lipjan, Gjakova, Malisheva, Gjilan, Shtime, Istog and Prizren.

The Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK), which is responsible for producing electricity in the country, operates with two outdated thermal power plants producing energy from coal. However, Kosovo fails to meet the needs of over 1.5 million of its inhabitants only with local production.

This corporation has production capacity of up to 800 megawatts per hour, while the rest necessary for meeting the demand are covered through import.

In recent days, the Kosovar Energy Distribution Company (KEDS) and the Kosovar Company for Energy Supply (KESCO) have reported record consumption of 1,500 megawatts per hour.

KEDS has not provided answers to the REL regarding the reasons for the interruption, but through a statement to the media has stressed that “local production is not enough to cover this requirement. ”

A large amount of energy is being imported at much higher prices compared to local production”, a statement issued on December 23rd, without specifying the value of import, says.

Meanwhile, Z. The RRE has announced for Radio Free Europe that this month, the value of energy imports has reached over onem euros a day, exceeding 35m euros in total for this period.

What's overloading the power grid?

Citizens do not worry about the level of consumption or the energy source they seek regular and unabated supplies, says Dardan Abazi from the Institute for Development Policy (INDEP). According to him, this situation has disturbed the everyday lives of citizens and businesses, with great consequences.

He adds that energy institutions have also been unprepared this winter, while measures taken in recent years have led to increased consumption by overloading the power grid.

“Subvention of efficient electrical equipment has resulted in many consumers changing heating patterns, moving to heating with electricity, whether through climate investments or thermal pumps. This has increased the demand for energy in the system, because citizens have gone from traditional fuels to thermal fuel”, he points out.

The Ministry of Economy of the Government of Kosovo, since 2022, has sometimes shared subsidies for citizens who buy efficient heating equipment, including thermal pumps, conditioning/climates, as well as biomas (dru, diapers, razors) and individual biosonic stoves. The final call was made in September of this year.

This ministry did not respond to Radio Free Europe's interest in the overall number of beneficiaries.

However, in January of this year, it has announced that in the past two years payments for over 150,000 households have been realised, worth about sevenm euros.

According to Dardan Abbas, these subsidies have been poorly unanized, resulting in “overloading the power grid, which is old”.

KEDS, under the privatisation contract, has had to invest in capital projects for modernisation and digitalisation of the network. But, so far, there has been no answer to what the value of investments in these projects is.

Kosovo's electricity distribution and supply has been privatised in 2013 by the Turkish consortium “Celik-Limac” for a price of 26.3m euros.

The privatisation agreement says that <x0nderer and investor collectively agree to invest in the 300m-euro network over a 15-year period”.

According to the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE), this company invests over 20m euros annually, investments that have a direct impact on improving and strengthening the distribution network.

Energy-related nongovernmental organisations estimate that investments in renewable energy are the only alternative to solving the problem of electricity shortages.