The Western Balkans 6 (WB6) electricity monitoring report, published by the Energy Community (EnC) Secretariat, points to positive developments in the establishment of day-ahead markets in Montenegro and North Macedonia. However, the pace of reforms in the WB6 region overall must be accelerated if market coupling is to take place within the time horizon foreseen. The establish-ment of a legal framework harmonized with the Third Energy Package and a power exchange, the key prerequisites, are yet to be completed by all WB6 Contracting Parties.
Following the selection of a strategic partner under WB6 technical assistance, the Montenegrin electricity power exchange is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2020. North Macedonia advanced in establishing the electricity market operator needed for operationalizing its day-ahead market.
After the cut-off date of the report, Albania informed about the Government’s decision on establishing the power exchange (APEX), which the Secretariat and other international partners have been supporting for several years. The Secretariat also received the confirmation that the concept of reintegrating the two state-owned companies KESH and OSHEE, which have raised concerns by Albania’s international partners, is not being pursued any longer. The report however outlines the significant delays in OSHEE distribution system operator unbundling.
The report highlights the tangible progress achieved towards finalizing the unbundling and certification of transmission system operators in Kosovo and North Macedonia. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the only WB6 party where the certification procedure has not even been initiated due to the lack of legislation compliant with the unbundling requirements of the Third Energy Package.
The report underlines that no progress was made on phasing out the regulation of production prices in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the retail side, Kosovo postponed deadlines for the deregulation of prices for medium voltage customers by one year. The only progress was made with regard to the selection of a universal and last resort supplier in a competitive procedure, which was finalized in North Macedonia, and recently launched in Montenegro.
