Kosovo is rationing electricity

In Kosovo for two weeks Electricity is rationed Because the production in the national territory is insufficient, the cost of imports from abroad is too high. From August 15, services were disrupted for two hours every six hours, except for hospitals and some large industrial plants. The cuts are causing huge problems for households and businesses, forcing them to rely on power generators in the capital Pristina and other areas.

Kosovo, with about 1.8 million inhabitants and one of the continent’s poorest economies, is the first European country to introduce these drastic measures to tackle its energy crisis, which has worsened significantly.Global increase in energy costs last year. Kosovo is a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008 and has never been recognized by Serbia.

According to state-owned electricity company KEDS, domestic energy production — which comes almost entirely from polluting coal-fired power plants — barely meets two-thirds of demand. However, during this period, nearly half of the plants shut down for maintenance due to winter, and consumption more or less doubles.

By mid-August, the government had reached an agreement to resolve the issue import Electricity from neighboring Albania, however, was not enough to prevent disruption of service due to a sharp increase in energy costs, which made imports unsustainable.

This is not the first time Kosovo has been forced to cut electricity services like this. KEDS was announced earlier last December Two hour intervals One of the coal plants in the area is out of service. Political opponents accused Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government of doing nothing to avert the crisis.

Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli attributed the interruptions in electricity service to inadequate investments in the sector in recent years, adding that recent crises have worsened an already serious situation.

Semper Rizvanolli, Interviewed Bloomberg, said things should start looking up next week when one of the plants, which had been shut down for maintenance, becomes operational. However, Rizvanolli expressed his concern that the problem is destined to persist due to the increased demand for energy in the country and the financial difficulties of households and the country in coping with the sharp increase in energy. Prices.

– Also Read: There is still no agreement between Serbia and Kosovo