ZERE: Price of Energy by 15 percent

The Kosovo Electricity Regulatory Office (ZRRE) announced on Friday it has proposed the price of electricity in the country for about 15 per cent next month.

The energy regulator said on Facebook that, given the results of his consultative report on allowed maximum revenues, the average increase in tariffs for consumers is expected to be 15 percent and invited consumers for public consultation.

The ERR makes the annual review and assignment of electricity tariffs, which are announced every April 1st and are worth until March 31st of the following year.

Weeks ago, three energy sector companies in Kosovo asked the energy regulator to raise the price of electricity tariffs.

System, Transmission and Market Operator [ COMM ST], Kosovo Electricity Distributive Company [ KEDS] and the Kosovar Company for Electricity Supplier [Electrons] KESCO] called for the price of electricity tariffs due to electricity imports.

The ZERE invited consumers, regular enterprises and parties interested in public consultation for its proposal for increased electricity tariffs by 15 percent.

She said their comments and suggestions would accept by March 28th, before her board makes final decision to expensive the current.

Last year, Z The RRE cut the price for commercial and industrial consumers by 3 percent.

But a year earlier, in 2023, the tariffs increased by 15 percent for all consumer categories.

Currently, for consumers who spend up to 800 kilowatts per hour within a month, the daily electricity price is 7.79 cents per kilowatt, while for those who spend more than 800 kilowatts, the share on it was estimated at 14.45 cents.

Between 10:00 and 7:00 a.m., the price for kilowatt is 3.34 cents for those who spend up to 800 kilowatts and 6.81 cents for those who spend the most.

In early March, former Energy Minister Ethem Ceku warned that increasing the price of electricity was inevitable.

In the interview for REL, he said that to reduce the amount of import, Kosovo must increase domestic production, especially through alternative energy.

Kosovo fails to meet the needs of over 1.6 million of its inhabitants with electricity, so it imports from foreign stock exchanges.

The country has the capacity to produce about 800 megawatts per hour, while its needs, in winter days, reach up to 1,300 megawatts per hour.

One of the reasons for the underproduction is the decades-old age of the Kosova A and Kosovo B thermal power plants.

Currently, over 20 percent of Kosovo's electricity is produced from alternative sources, such as hydro power plants, windmills, and sunny panels.

Kosovo authorities They have said earlier that the goal is to generate 35 percent of the electricity by 2031.

Kosovo's 2022-2031 Energy Strategy focuses on investments in renewable energy, but a part includes the Kosova A thermal power plant, investments in at least one entity or its bloc, respectively./Periscopi