TIRANA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Albania's domestic energy production fell to 3,012 gigawatthours (GWh) in the first half of 2017, down from 4.066 GWh generated during the same period last year, the Albanian statistics office, INSTAT, informed Thursday.
The total energy output marked a 25.9-percent decline, INSTAT said in its Balance of Electric Power report.
According to the report, Albania's imports of electricity increased by 39.2 percent in the January-June period of 2017 compared to the same period of a year ago.
INSTAT further announced that production at state-owned hydropower plants, privately-run power plants and plants operated under concession dropped by 26.9 percent and 23.8 percent respectively in the first half of the year.
Albania's energy market suffered huge losses and faced a very difficult situation during this summer season due to the prolonged drought and lower rainfalls, which led to a significant fall in domestic power production.
Albania is largely dependent on the energy produced by country's hydroelectric power stations, which account for approximately 98 percent of the total electricity production.
For this reason, the Albanian government revised the 2017 budget a few weeks ago to allocate higher funds to help energy operators cope.
Meanwhile, the high temperatures affected the domestic demand for electricity, which, according to INSTAT, rose by 7.8 percent to 2.710 GWh from 2.515 GWh.
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