The Albanian Government aims to increase the use of renewables by 41% in the energy sector, parallel with several priorities ranging from increasing the use of renewables to reducing losses, increasing the use of biofuels, and improving energy efficiency.
These objectives are specifically defined year by year in the second part of the midterm budget project published on the Ministry of Finance and Economy’s website this week.
According to the document, in the section related to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, there is an emphasis on increasing the use of Renewable Energies from 40% in 2024 to 41% in 2025.
The use of renewable energy is an indicator where Albania performs relatively well compared to the European Union average, mainly due to the significant share of energy produced by hydropower plants in the total energy consumed.
Another objective is to increase energy efficiency from 7% in 2024 to 7.5% in 2025. Further reduction of electricity losses by 20% in the years 2024-2025, as well as a 70% increase in domestic electricity production for the years 2024-2025, are outlined. Another priority is to increase the use of biofuels in the transport sector by 10% for the years 2024-2025.
All these policies are currently being implemented in several programs aiming to address the challenges in the energy sector, always present due to the heavy dependence on hydropower and the lack of diversification with other resources. Likewise, an efficiency project for public buildings has started to be implemented, and according to the legal framework, interventions must be carried out meeting several criteria that encourage energy savings. Another aspect involves reducing losses in energy, which was initially mostly associated with informal connections, but now a significant portion of these losses comes as an effect of the outdated network, which requires intervention.
Support for energy
According to calculations made public in the midterm budget program for 2024-2026, continued support for the energy sector is foreseen. If the support for 2023 considers the initial program at 3.6 billion lek, it decreases to 3.1 billion lek in 2024 and 2.9 billion lek for 2025 and 2026.
According to the same document, the total expenditures of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy are expected to reach 57 billion lek in the coming year, accounting for 8.23% of the Government’s total expenses and estimated at 2.51% of the Gross Domestic Product. In 2025, these expenditures are projected to constitute 2.61% of GDP, while in the following year, it is expected to be 2.53%.
