In winter, the small country consumes more electricity than it produces. Due to the high costs, the gap can probably not be closed completely. People are preparing for power outages again.
Two men sit by candlelight in a café in Pristina during a power outage last December.
When the electricity went out several times a day in August, Gezim Kadrolli took his old diesel generator out of the garage and put it in a corner of his shop. “For a long time after the war, we only had electricity irregularly,” says the hairdresser, who has been running a small salon in a residential area of Kosovo’s capital Pristina since the turn of the millennium.
“Then I bought this thing. Now I can use it again. If it gets really cold, there will probably be more failures.” Then Kadrolli will put the blue box outside and connect it. The socket is right next to the door.
Gezim Kadrolli, who has put his old generator back into operation.
Many business people in the youngest country in Europe do the same as the hairdresser. There are generators in front of most shops and restaurants in Pristina these days, old ones that are battered like Kadrolli, but also unused new ones. In the grocery store across from the hairdresser’s, saleswoman Neta Halimi says her boss bought a new device for more than 4,000 euros.
“We had to wait more than two months. The suppliers can hardly keep up with the orders.” 4000 euros is a lot of money. Added to this are the expenses for fuel. The average salary in the country is 500 euros.
Maintenance work on the main power plant
This summer, Kosovo was the first European country that was no longer able to fully maintain the power supply for the population after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s not just about Russia and Ukraine. Electricity had already been rationed for some time last December. Kosovo’s energy problems predate this war. Nevertheless, the measure attracted some attention in August. Three times a day, the electricity supply was cut off for two hours.
The immediate cause was maintenance work on the generators in Obiliq, northwest of Pristina. The lignite-fired power plants Kosovo A and Kosovo B there account for almost 90 percent of the country’s electricity generation. The high prices on the European market made it difficult for the poor country to make up for the temporary loss through purchases.
The drought in the region exacerbated the problem. Kosovo regularly draws electricity from neighboring Albania, which mainly uses hydroelectric power. Because of the low water levels, there was also a shortage there. In the end, however, a solution was found with Tirana and the rationing was lifted.
Electric heaters cause power consumption to explode
In Kosovo, it is expected that the scenario will repeat itself in winter. “We produce a maximum of 1000 megawatts per hour nationwide, but have a peak consumption of up to 1400,” says energy expert Burim Ejupi from the think tank Indep in Pristina. “Because of losses in our outdated network, but mainly because of the many electric heaters.”
In Kosovo, only parts of Pristina and, thanks to a development project with Swiss participation, the south-west town of Gjakova have central heating. The inland is not connected to the international gas network. The villages are heated with wood, in the cities with electric stoves or air conditioning. The need for heating is high in winter. It can then get very cold everywhere in the Balkans.
Kosovo cannot afford to import all of the electricity it lacks, at least not at current price levels. “We could probably lift up to 200 euros. At a price of 400 euros, as is currently the case, that would be 160,000 euros per hour for 400 megawatts. That’s too expensive for us,” says energy expert Ejupi. Therefore, only rationing remains when consumption becomes too high.
Large dependence on coal
In view of the emerging problems, Prime Minister Kurti’s government is calling for energy savings, for example with a huge poster with a dimmed lightbulb on the Energy Ministry building. A ban on the power-guzzling production of cryptocurrencies has been in effect since the beginning of the year. Especially in the Serbian-inhabited north, a corresponding industry has been established in recent years.
In the fall, the government launched a subsidy program. Anyone who invests in energy efficiency, for example in a more economical air conditioning system, is reimbursed up to 40 percent of their expenses. The aim is to reduce national peak consumption to 1200 megawatt hours. The measures come much too late, criticizes Ejupi. In addition, more should be controlled via the price. Kosovo has the lowest electricity prices in Europe.
Above all, according to Ejupi, the fact that the expansion of other energy sources has been neglected for a long time is taking revenge. Almost nowhere in the world is the dependence on coal greater than in Kosovo. That is not by accident. The small country’s lignite deposits are among the largest in Europe.
For a long time, coal was also used as a solution to energy problems in the future. Different governments planned to build another power plant, despite protests from environmental groups and reservations from potential donors. In 2018, the World Bank finally decided not to support the project. After the change of power in 2020, the new government led by Albin Kurti also distanced itself from the project.
Obiliq’s lignite-fired power plants are by far the most important electricity producers in Kosovo.
High air pollution in the Balkans
Even more than climate policy, decarbonization in the Western Balkans is a public health measure. Nowhere in Europe is the air as bad as here. This has a lot to do with coal, which plays a central role in all countries in the region with the exception of Albania.
Most power plants are outdated and do not meet current environmental standards. According to Study by the Bankwatch Network organization By 2021, the 18 coal-fired power plants in the Western Balkans emitted two and a half times as much sulfur oxides as all 221 power plants in the EU combined. The largest single issuers are the Kosovo A and B generators in Obiliq. On cold winter days, a heavy, stinking blanket of smog often hangs over Pristina.
In the current energy crisis, however, the focus is on security of supply. This is also evident on a small scale. This year, the Kosovan government again allowed the sale of lignite to private households as an alternative to heating with electricity. The mine operator’s 3,600 employees were even entitled to a free truckload of several tons. Coal had not been made available for heating in recent years due to air pollution.
Regional cooperation is important
The goal of gradually phasing out coal is still the right one, says energy expert Ejupi, even if it will take years. But a regional perspective is needed. The small states of the Western Balkans cannot achieve energy security alone. “Kosovo has potential, especially in the solar sector. In Albania it is hydropower. We have to work together.”
Despite the challenges, Ejupi does not expect any major social upheavals this winter. “It’s not nice when the power goes out. But we know how to deal with it.” His organization recently purchased an electricity storage device so that they don’t have to sit in the dark.
Neta Halimi, the supermarket clerk, doesn’t have that option. She lives in a block of flats outside of Pristina and doesn’t have a wood stove, she says. “If the heating goes out, I’ll have to put on a coat.”
