Following the lead of authorities across Europe, the Albanian Electricity Cooperation (KESH) has called on citizens to save energy as a long, expensive winter looms on the horizon.
Europe is in the grips of an energy crisis as some countries’ prices have soared as much as 300%. At the same time, winter foresees power cuts and blackouts during peak hours as reserves of gas, oil, and coal run short, exacerbated by a continent-wide drought meaning less hydropower as well.
“The electricity bill will be lower by turning off two lights for four hours every day. This will translate to 58.4 kw/h saved per year and 654 lek (EUR 5) less on your bill,” KESH said in an information video.
If every household in the country did this, it is estimated it would save some 3,500 Mw/h and 39.3 million lek, equivalent to EUR 335,689.
It comes just days after energy minister Belinda Balluku received widespread ridicule for posting an infographic asking citizens to do their washing at 30 degrees to save electricity.
Energy use in the country was already down 2% between April and June compared to 2021, suggesting Albanians are already taking steps to save energy in anticipation of tough times ahead.
So far, prices are yet to rise in the country, partly due to government subsidies and the fact that most of the power used since the outbreak of war in Ukraine has been generated locally with hydropower. But this drops during the winter, and the country has to buy energy from the international market, which the Russian war has significantly impacted.
