Electricity exported from Albania to the European Union is exempt from costs under the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The latest quarterly report by the Energy Community Secretariat assigns Albania a default emission factor of zero.

According to the report for the second quarter of 2026, electricity originating from Albania has a default emission value of 0 tonnes of CO? per MWh, resulting in a corresponding CBAM cost of EUR 0 per MWh for electricity imported into the EU.

By comparison, the calculated carbon costs for other countries in the region range from EUR 66.773 per MWh for North Macedonia to EUR 86.421 per MWh for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The report attributes Albania's zero emission factor to the country's energy mix, stating that "Albania, with 0.90 TWh, remained almost entirely based on hydropower."

Reported electricity production increased by 66% compared with the same period last year. However, the report cautions that this figure "should be read with caution," as it is based on a relatively small absolute volume and Albania's data were available only through 22 June.

The cost advantage was reflected in electricity trade with Greece. The average Albania–Greece price differential narrowed to -EUR 1.6 per MWh, compared with -EUR 10.6 per MWh in the first quarter, while Albanian electricity exports to Greece increased by approximately 3% year-on-year.

"This is consistent with Albania's hydropower-based export position and its zero default CBAM factor, which keeps exports competitive even when the price differential is narrow," the report states.

Scheduled electricity exports to Greece reached 196 GWh during the second quarter, returning to more typical levels after the exceptional surge driven by abundant hydropower production earlier in the year. During the first quarter, exports had reached 569 GWh, nearly three times the level recorded a year earlier.

The report notes that the normalization in the second quarter indicates that the early-year increase was "a hydropower-driven episode rather than a lasting change in trading patterns." It adds that Albania's zero-emission export advantage could become increasingly significant during future periods of hydropower surplus.

Albania also recorded the lowest average electricity price among the markets analyzed during the first half of the year, at EUR 86.3 per MWh, compared with EUR 93.5 in Greece, EUR 118.3 in Hungary, and EUR 125.5 in Italy.