
The government intends to move in parallel with several priorities in the energy sector, starting from increasing the use of renewables to reducing losses, increasing the use of biofuels or even energy efficiency.
These goals have also defined the concrete objectives year after year reflected in the second part of the mid-term budget project published on the website of the Ministry of Finance and Economy this week.
Specifically, according to the document, in the part that belongs to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, an increase in the use of Renewable Energies from 40% in 2024 to 41% in 2025 is highlighted.
The use of renewable energy is an indicator where Albania appears relatively well even in relation to the average of the European Union and this is mostly related to the fact that the key part of the total energy used is what is produced by HPPs.
Likewise, another objective is to increase energy efficiency from 7% in 2024 to 7.5% in 2025. Further reduction of electricity losses to 20% in 2024-2025, as well as increasing domestic electricity production with 70% for the years 2024-2025. Another priority is to increase the use of biofuels in the transport sector by 10% for the years 2024-2025.
All these policies have currently started to be implemented in several programs aiming to solve the deadlock in the energy sector, always present due to the great dependence on water, the lack of diversification with other sources. Likewise, an efficiency project for public buildings has started to be implemented and according to the legal framework, the interventions must be carried out by fulfilling certain criteria that promote energy saving. Another element has to do with the reduction of energy losses that were initially mostly related to informal connections, while now a good part of this lost percentage comes as an effect of the amortized network that needs intervention.
Support for energy
Meanwhile, referring to the calculations made public, the mid-term budget program 2024-2026 foresees the continuation of support for the energy sector. Thus, if for 2023 this support takes into account the initial program affects 3.6 billion ALL, it will decrease to 3.1 billion ALL in 2024 and 2.9 billion ALL for 2025 and 2026.
Referring to the same document, the total expenses of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy are expected to reach the value of 57 billion lek in the coming year, which in the total government expenses account for 8.23 percent, while as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, they are calculated at 2.51 percent. In 2025, these expenses are expected to occupy 2.61 percent of GDP, while in the following year, 2.53%.