The Council of Ministers approved on Wednesday the agreement with SECO on intelligent energy, which will be implemented in 4 pilot municipalities.

Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku stated on Wednesday after the government meeting that the project is closely related to energy efficiency and conservation.

“We will have the opportunity to pilot in 4 municipalities this project designed to promote energy efficiency and conservation at the local government level, starting from street lighting, the way plug- in hybrid vehicles can work, etc. Also, local government offices, schools, hospitals, etc. will adopt new approaches in this aspect, ” said Balluku.

Minister Balluku also spoke about the situation in the country due to global energy crunch.

“As we have said since the beginning of this month, the global energy crisis has affected our country and we are working to find all the instruments to implement a policy to protect household consumers and small businesses from any spillover effect on the market, ” said Balluku.

The Minister announced that one of the most pressing issues on top of the rising price is finding the amount of energy to offer the market, even to medium or high voltage consumers who still prefer to be served today, despite the fact that they are in the free market for some time.

“We have taken on the responsibility to provide uninterrupted energy in all areas of Albania, given that today the distribution grid makes this possible after numerous investments that have been made,” said the minister.

She stressed that household consumers and small business will continue to remain under social protection despite fluctuations.

“The government is working every day to provide the energy needed to meet the needs. Both thresholds, the household consumer and the small business will continue to remain under social protection despite the fluctuations. Meanwhile, big business has long been supplied by the free market, but we have opened the doors to all those who want to get energy from OSHEE because they are exposed to very high prices,” Balluku said.
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