The Bosnian power system is to be reconstructed with the help of a 50 million euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The loan will help to ensure a reliable supply throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina by financing projects to improve the integration of the network and the reconnection of the system to the UCTE (Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity), an association of East and West European system operators. The EBRD loan is part of a larger programme, Power III, supported by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, designed to strengthen the post-conflict reconstruction programme in the area.
Meanwhile Albania reimposed electricity rationing in October after a prolonged drought – the country’s only domestic source of energy is its hydro power schemes in the north. National electricity group KESH has been forced to reimpose power cuts of up to four hours a day, after the situation had eased somewhat in September, and expects to continue rationing throughout the winter. Albania is now producing 7 million kWh per day but buring the winter expects demand to rise above 14 million kWh per day – most Albanians use electricity for heat. The country is importing up to 6 million kWh/day, the maximum its obsolete grid can take, and it is unlikely, according to KESH general manager Farudin Hoxha, that the energy problem can be resolved without heavy investment in upgrading the infrastructure.
l In Serbia almost half the country was without electricity during the last week of October when four units at the country’s largest power plant – Nikola Tesla A, near Belgrade – failed. With 1150 MW of capacity out of action the situation was expected to remain difficult until imports from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece became available. Serbia is now reliant on imports from surrounding countries for its peak loading – daily consumption is around 100 million kWh, of which 80 per cent can be supplied by the internal system.