Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, inspected on Thursday the “Tirana 2” electrical substation, where the Transmission System Operator OST has invested to increase transmission capacities.

Balluku said that this investment guarantees an improvement in the energy supply for the Durres region and the entire southwestern area.

Minister Balluku said that the OST is the backbone of the energy network. “In 2013, when the Rama government took over, system losses were at the level of 45%. Today we have reached 17% and this is an average for the entire republic. We have places like Kombinat that have a 4% loss, which is at a European level. A level well compared to the entire region, we are at a satisfactory level in terms of network losses,” said Balluku.

Balluku also focused on energy projects with neighboring countries, where 80% of the work has been completed on the Fier-Bitola interconnection project.

The volumes of electricity transmission have increased significantly in the last five years throughout the region. During the summer, even Albania itself, where the number of visitors increases with the number of residents, also increases the energy demand, causing all the lines of Greece and Montenegro to be loaded. This is the reason why Albania, through the OST and the Ministry of Infrastructure, has sat at the negotiating table with the Italian government to discuss with a third partner, the United Arab Emirates, the construction of an underwater energy line that will directly connect Albania to the Italian coast," said Balluku.

OST Director Elisian Bici stated that the “Tirana 2” substation is the key point of the OST, where it operates with three voltage levels: 400, 220, and 110 kilovolts, from which the north, Durrës, and a main part of Tirana are supplied.

"We have recently invested in the “Tirana 2” substation, through the German Investment Bank KfW, in cooperation with the OST, with financial support of Euro 40 million from KfW. Meanwhile, all local costs, expropriations, and everything else are covered by the Transmission Operator to intervene in this very important substation,” he said.