Yesterday the Rama government has decided to triple the borrowing budget for electrical energy institution from €1 million to €3.3 million.
The long-term draught and high temperatures throughout the country this summer have caused many reservoirs to drop below critical levels. As a result, many hydropower plants are operating on minimum levels.
With the current budget reallocation, the total costs of the draught for the state are already more than €77 million so far.
To avoid a full-fledged energy crisis, the Albanian Energy Corporation (KESh) has been forced to buy 80% of total national energy needs on the international energy market. For July and August, this has cost KESh around €52 million. If the draught continues, KESh will probably have to import 100% of the energy in September.
The government has received a loan of €22.4 million from the World Bank to counter the quickly rising costs of the draught. The money, however, has not yet fully arrived.
