Hydropower plants (HPPs) produced 52.8% of Albania’s power in 2020, according to data by INSTAT.
A further 41.2% was generated by independent power producers, and 0.6% through other sustainable methods. In terms of importing electricity, there was an increase of 2% on the previous year combined with a 25% increase in the export of Albanian-generated power.
In total, Albania generated 5315 GWh in 2020, compared to 5208 GWh in 2019. Some 3239 GWh was imported and 963 GWh was exported during the year.
The power generated by incinerating waste, something the government has heavily invested in, was not present in the figures.
When looking at the production capacities of HPPs, publicly owned plants increased their production by 3.7% while those that are privately owned managed to decrease their production by 0.6%. This was a decrease from 2205 GWh in 2019 to 2191 GWh in 2020.
In Q4, there was a decrease in the production of electricity as is usual with HPPs during winter and summer. As the government has no means of storing this power, they have to import it. There was an 18.7% increase in the amount of imported power and a 42.3% decrease in exported power when compared with the same quarter in 2019.
Overall, Albanians are consuming more power year on year. Domestic users registered a 12.4% increase on 2019 and non-households increased by almost 10%.
