Albania's electricity production declined to 2,478 GWh in the first quarter of 2024, from 2,787 GWh in the same period of 2023, the country’s statistical office said.

Albania's power exports dropped to 814 GWh in the January-March period, from 904 in the first quarter of 2023, whereas imports of electricity more than doubled to 535 GWh, INSTAT said in a quarterly report on Wednesday.

Of the entire volume of the country's first-half electricity production, 97.2% was generated by hydropower plants, of which 46.9% was produced by state-owned companies, whereas the balance came from independent electricity producers.

Private hydropower plants have managed to produce more energy than the Drin cascade, which in the past with small fluctuations dominated energy production. The latter has even increased compared to last year.

The data also shows that losses in the network reached the value of 483 GWh from 534 GWh, marking a decrease of 9.5%. Transmission losses decreased by 7.4% while distribution losses decreased by 9.7%. Technical losses in distribution have decreased by 2.2%, while non-technical losses in distribution have decreased by 24.6%, compared to the first quarter of 2023.

On the other hand, businesses and households increased their energy use in the first quarter of this year. The use of electricity by consumers increased by 7.6% year-on-year, reaching the value of 1,716 GWh.