September 9, 2017

by AEA in News

Albania, Montenegro Eye EU Funding for Gas Pipeline

Albania’s Energy Ministry on Friday presented a feasibility study for a 618-million-euros gas corridor between Albania, Bosnia and Croatia, which it hopes the EU and US will support.

Albania’s Ministry of Energy on Friday in Tirana unveiled a preliminary feasibility study for a proposed Ionian-Adriatic gas pipeline, hoping the EU may fund construction of the section of the pipeline between Albania and Montenegro.

Damian Gjiknuri, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said Albania had a strong interest in the pipeline project, which could help gasify the country. “We hope for support from the EU and the US [for the project],” he said.

The 511-km-long pipeline, expected to cost up to 618 million euros, aims to link the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline with Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia.

The feasibility study calls for a new pipeline with a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters per year, BCM, from which Albania and Bosnia hope to consume 1 BCM each, Montenegro 0.5 BCM while Croatia, the biggest and the strongest economy in the Western Balkans, is expected to consume 2.5 BCM per year.

The US Ambassador to Tirana, Donald Lu, expressed America’s support for the project, as a way to obtain a new source of energy that is not dependent on Russia, and as a means to strengthen regional energy collaboration.

The Albanian Energy Ministry said that, in collaboration with the European Commission, its Directory for Energy and the Ministry of Economy of Montenegro had presented a proposal to the Western Balkans Investment Framework, hoping it will finance the development of the project for the sections in Albania and Montenegro.

The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline is currently under construction. It is expected to ship gas from Azerbaijan to Italy through existing pipelines in Turkey and Greece and through a new pipeline running from Greece to Italy through Albania and under the Adriatic Sea.

The pipeline will have an exit point near Fieri, in Albania, which creates hopes of getting new energy supplies for all Western Balkan countries.

They all have large energy deficits and are heavily dependent on coal to generate electricity. Albania and Montenegro have large hydropower capacities but they are not sufficient to cover all their energy needs.

A gas network could help both countries to produce electricity by burning gas and substitute the use of electricity in some functions like heating, thus limiting the need to use coal and protecting the environment at the same time.

Source: Balkaninsight

September 9, 2017

by AEA in News

IAP project counts on EU, US support

The countries involved in the construction of the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP), Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia count on the support of the European Union and the United States.

The remarks were made during the meeting of the Project Management Unit for IAP project held in Tirana.

Addressing the event, Albania’s Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri stated that his country has completed the drafting of the Gas Master Plan and has built a fruitful cooperation with Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the Energy Community for the implementation of the IAP project.

He expressed confidence that this project will be supported by both the United States and the European Union, said the message posted on the website of Albanian energy ministry.

Of course, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is really the main pillar to support the development of the gas sector in Albania, but IAP pipeline will also play a primary role, said Gjiknuri.

IAP is not just a natural extension of TAP, said the minister, adding that it will also ensure energy security in the region and bring economic progress to the countries through which it passes.

“We point out that three of the IAP countries are NATO member countries and this makes the IAP project even more necessary in terms of strategic interests in the region,” said Gjiknuri.

IAP is a proposed natural gas pipeline in Southeastern Europe (SEE) that will stretch from Albania through Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Split in Croatia. It will be connected with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

IAP will provide deliveries of Azerbaijani gas to several countries of South-Eastern Europe. The capacity of the pipeline will amount to five billion cubic meters of gas per year.

TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.

TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers).

TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

July 22, 2017

by AEA in News

WB6 electricity report: Slow progress in establishing day-ahead markets

The Western Balkan Six (WB6) countries have been progressing in developing their electricity markets at different pace, while the regional market is still to take shape, the Energy Community Secretariat assessed in its WB6 Electricity Monitoring Report.

Spot Market Development (status 07/2017)

The report was presented at the WB6 Summit in Trieste on July 12. It analyses progress made at national and regional level in the implementation of energy soft measures since last year’s Summit in Paris. Those measures were agreed in 2015 within the WB6 initiative which aims to enhance cooperation between the countries in the region. Since then, the Western Balkan countries have implemented more than half of the energy soft measures, the report says.

“To speed up the process, governments will have to adopt decisions that will remove the remaining blocking points, as well as to step up regional cooperation of both Western Balkan 6 parties and EU Member States towards an efficient integration of their day-ahead and balancing markets”, the report concludes.

SEEPEX only functional day-ahead market in region

Cross-border Balancing (status 07/2017)

Western Balkans countries have been still slowly progressing in establishing day-ahead markets and their coupling.

The report states that the power exchange SEEPEX in Serbia remains the only functional day-ahead market in the Western Balkan 6 although other countries have taken activities for starting a day-ahead market. Montenegro stands out in this regard with the establishment of the power exchange company in June 2017.

The report notes that countries have mainly opted for the establishment of national power exchanges in spite of the fact that their markets are small in size, rather than to look for adhering to existing power exchanges.

The Energy Community recommends to the countries to carefully consider financial viability of the future power exchanges and measures that will contribute to boosting their liquidity, including through an efficient market coupling process.

Further steps needed towards balancing cooperation

The Energy Community estimated that truly regional balancing cooperation has still not taken off in the Western Balkans. The countries in the region have been developing models for cross-border exchange of balancing energy, but the activities are limited to bilateral cooperation, or within control blocks, such as trilateral cooperation of transmission system operators of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.

Serbia still not participate in regional capacity allocation

Regional Capacity Allocation (status 07/2017)

The progress in regional capacity allocation has also been slow. The only improvement is the inclusion of the cross-border capacities on the interconnection between Macedonia and Greece into the common regional auctioning performed by SEE CAO.

Serbia remains the only WB6 country that is not allocating any of its cross-border capacities through the regional auction office.

No initiative was taken towards Bulgaria’s membership of SEE CAO, for the purpose of allocation of capacities on the interconnection with Macedonia.

Progress achieved in unbundling

Cross-cutting Measures (status 07/2017)

The most prominent progress since the Paris Summit was made in the area of price deregulation and unbundling of system operators. In four of the Western Balkan 6 countries, the transmission system operators applied for certification. The process was finalized successfully in Albania, where the transmission system operator was certified and subsequently became a member of ENTSO-E.

The report reminds that Serbian transmission system operator had not fulfilled the unbundling requirements of the Third Package.

Overall Implementation of Soft Measures (status 07/2017)

Legal unbundling of the distribution system operator has still not been finalized in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina while functional unbundling is not yet complete in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

In Kosovo, price regulation was terminated for generation prices as well as the supply price for high voltage customers and the price for network losses.

For more information go to full report.

July 19, 2017

by AEA in News

EnC Contracting Parties in preparation of First Energy Efficiency Annual Reports

The Energy Efficiency Coordination Group Meeting (EECG), which was held on June 28 in Vienna, featured a session on monitoring and reporting on the implementation of obligations arising from the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU). The Directive is to become obligatory in October 2017 for all Energy Community (EnC) contracting parties.

The session addressed the needs and necessary steps for defining and setting of energy efficiency targets to be achieved by all Energy Community (EnC) contracting parties by 2020. The working session was moderated by GIZ ORF-EE project representatives and included the presentation of the progress monitoring and reporting template. Developed by the GIZ ORF-EE project, the template is to be used by the contracting parties for their First Annual Reports as required under the Energy Efficiency Directive (EDD).

The session, also serving as a mini work-shop, featured provision of advise and recommendations by ORF-EE Expert Armin Teskeredžić on the selection of quality sources and data collection for effective report preparation, including a reflection on major legislative and non-legislative measures important in contributing towards fulfillment of 2020 targets.

The template is laid out as such to include data referring to the level of fulfillment of obligations under each specific article of the EED. It also contains information on implementation progress in the different sectors, including primary and final energy consumption values. The template links reporting elements with the EED targets and the implementation roadmap as to allow for a smooth transition from reporting requirements under the old Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive to requirements under the upcoming Energy Efficiency Directive.

Jasna Sekulović, GIZ ORF-EE Manager stated on the occasion that the template will be used for all future reports which are mandatory for all the EnC contracting parties.

During the EECG meeting it was concluded that the ORF-EE, in the coming period, will also provide support to the contracting parties from South-East Europe through necessary mentoring support focusing on the preparation of the pending report and other relevant obligations.

This content is produced by BGEN partner:

GIZ Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe – Energy Efficiency (ORF-EE)

June 23, 2016

by AEA in News

IFC Supports Albania as it Increases Security of Energy Supplies

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Albanian Ministry of Energy and Industry have signed a Memorandum of Understanding designed to establish the day-ahead electricity market in Albania, bolster country’s electricity supplies and better connect it to the rest of Europe.

IFC will advise the Albanian government on the creation of the day-ahead electricity market. The market will become the main arena for trading power, allowing Albania to buy electricity from and sell electricity to its neighbours quickly and easily. The day-ahead market is expected to help promote the integration of Albania’s electric grid with the rest of Europe, including neighboring Kosovo. It will also increase price transparency, and improve the investment climate for new power projects, according to IFC.

“Albania is committed to the liberalization of its power market, and we have recently adopted new energy laws,” said Damian Gjiknuri, Albanian Minister of Energy and Industry. “The establishment of the day-ahead electricity market is an important step in that process.”

Albania is a candidate to join the European Union and has recently joined the Energy Community, a multi-national body, with the EU and other Balkan countries.

“IFC is supporting the establishment of the electricity market in Albania through a combination of advisory and investment services,” said Thomas Lubeck, IFC Manager for the Western Balkans. “We are looking forward to working with our partners on the establishment of the day-ahead electricity market, which is going to benefit producers, traders, and customers in Albania.”

This project is implemented by IFC’s public-private partnerships transaction advisory unit, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Ministry of Finance of Austria.

Albania became a shareholder and member of IFC in 1991. Since then, IFC has invested $762.3 million in the country, including $279 million mobilized from our partners, in 24 projects across a variety of sectors. In addition, IFC has supported trade flows of $6 million through its trade finance program.

Currently, IFC’s committed investment portfolio in Albania is $187 million. IFC’s advisory services in Albania, some offered in partnership with the World Bank, aim to improve the investment climate, boost the performance of private sector companies, increase access to finance, and help attract private sector participation in development of infrastructure projects.