Albania close to a “boom” in the energy services chain by Dr Lorenc Gordani, 10th July 2017
Today Albania still is missing targeted programmes an assigned public authority for public or residential buildings rehabilitation. However, there is currently a limited number of small projects implemented in the public and residential sector, financed by international donors. The typology of the public and residential building stock in Albania was developed; it includes classification of existing building stock as well as modelling and analysis of future retrofitting options. The draft Energy Efficiency Action Plan (EEAP) is expected to include the target and programmes for the renovation of public buildings.
The above based in the Law on Energy Performance of Buildings (transposing Directive 2010/31/EU) adopted by the Parliament in November 2016. The methodology for calculating the energy performance of buildings is currently being developed by the Ministry of Energy and Industry. However, currently there is no progress regarding the establishment of the energy performance certification of buildings and the independent control systems.
The 2015 Energy Efficiency Law introduces the ESCO concept and energy performance contracting. A by-law on licensing of energy audits to be adopted by the Ministry of Energy and Industry (MEI) is under development. The energy services market is still not developed and no ESCO activities were reported in Albania to date. But, energy services can be provided under private law contracts with freely negotiated terms and conditions, unless they are included under a programme financed by the (planned) Energy Efficiency Fund for the support of ESCO projects in the public sector.
The Energy Community Secretariat’s WB6 Sustainability Charter Monitoring Report 12/2016, report that municipal multi-annual budgeting should be allowed, either through the Budget Law or through an interpretation by the Ministry of Finance, to be able to retain energy cost savings and pay the ESCO from these. The Public Procurement Law should be amended to allow for service/technology cost life based procurement, which is more suitable for ESCO service contracting in the public sector as opposed to the current practice based on minimum offer value.
Albania has no district heating or cooling systems at present, not even in regions with high building densities. Attaining a sustainable wood biomass supply would be a significant challenge. Currently there are no activities to adopt the methodology or conduct a comprehensive assessment of the potential for the application of high-efficiency cogeneration and efficient district heating and cooling, based on a countrywide cost-benefit analysis.
The 2015 Energy Efficiency Law foresees the establishment of a fund as a non-profit organisation, which can finance investments in energy efficiency measures in the entire energy chain from production to consumption. A working group was established within the Ministry of Energy and Industry to prepare a law governing the functioning of the fund. Albania should further improve other financing mechanisms to support energy efficiency investments (including energy efficiency criteria in services and goods public procurement and involvement of private sector/ESCOs) and better utilise available external financing provided by regional assistance programmes.
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the editor at the “lorenc_gordani@albaniaenergy.org”.
