Albania will supply coal to Serbia and North Macedonia. With this fuel, the two countries will produce more energy, and a part will be returned to Albania.

“Serbia and North Macedonia buy coal from other countries and have asked us for cooperation, so by taking our coal we can benefit from a part of the energy produced by them," said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku from Belgrade during the “Open Balkan” Summit.

This is the alternative that the governments of the “Open Balkan” countries have chosen in the crisis that the energy system is going through, since the Albanian underground hides large deposits of coal.

“In our country, we have deposits amounting to 700 million tons, it would be good if they were used by our neighbors,” said the minister.

Unlike Albania, which produces electricity through water, from hydropower plants, in North Macedonia and Serbia, electricity is produced by burning fossil materials, which increases gas emissions into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Balluku stated on Wednesday that there are several proposals regarding electricity billing for household consumers, which will be discussed in the coming days, as a response to the energy crisis.

In a statement to the media following the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Balluku said both the social protection of families and the optimization of the sector's finances will be taken into account before taking a final decision.

Balluku said that the proposal to impose higher prices for the consumers of over 800 kilowatt-hours of energy will be discussed.

Furthermore, according to data from the country’s statistical office INSTAT, the net domestic production of electricity in Albania in the second quarter of the year decreased by 38.1% reaching the value of 1,647 GWh from 2,660 GWh of energy produced in the second quarter of 2021.

According to the report, while the domestic production fell, the import increased by almost three times.

The gross import of electricity during the second quarter of 2022, reached the value of 664 GWh from 228 GWh that was in the same period of the previous year, thus marking an increase of 2.9 times, it is stated in the INSTAT report.

While, the gross export of electricity reached the value of 415 GWh from 924 GWh, marking a decrease of 55.1%.