Cheapest electricity in the region is charged to households in Serbia, where kilowatt – hour of electricity costs 5.1 cents, while the most expensive kilowatt – hour is in Slovenia, 14.47 cents. Montenegro, with a price of 8.13 cents without VAT or 9.5 cents including VAT, is at the third place, after Croatia, where kilowatt – hour costs 11.5 cents. Cheaper electricity than in Montenegro is still charged to households in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where average cost is about seven cents. Electric Power Industries of Croatian Community Herceg Bosnia, Republic Srpska and Electric Power Industry on the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina all have separate price lists.
Macedonia is also below Montenegro, where citizens pay 6.9 cents for one kilowatt of electricity consumed.
Regional media yesterday quoted data from the research agency Anatolia on electricity prices in this part of Europe, which, however, differ from the current ones. Besides false price of electricity in Montenegro, where they used the old figure of 7.7 cents (the price of kilowatts before August 1 this year), Anatolia made electricity “cheaper” in Slovenia too – the current price of 14.47 cents, the agency lowered to 10.9, making it less expensive than in Croatia.
The Agency has increased the price of electricity for households in BH for a whole cent, and in this research electricity is more expensive there than in the neighboring Montenegro.
Serbian media reported that, except for the lowest cost of electricity in the region, citizens of Serbia also have the lowest average income and that in the next four years EPS announced electricity price increase by as much as 80 percent. Electricity, according to the media, would probably be more expensive after the New Year, for about 20 to 25 percent.
There were comments on relatively cheap electricity in BH, but living standard is also low in that country. BH exports about 25 percent of total electricity production, while the position of Montenegro and Croatia is similar, since them both import large amounts of electricity, which compensates for the energy deficit from domestic sources.
According to Eurostat, the price of electricity in Croatia is 11 cents per kWh, which was generated by an enormous import of more than 60 percent of total consumption. Price of kilowatt is therefore largely dependent on energy price at the regional and European markets.
Croatia buys electricity mainly from Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia, but its citizens are better able to deal with prices higher than other in the region, because the average net salary in this country is 730 Euros, significantly more than with the southern neighbors.
Anatolia reported that the price of electricity in all the countries of the region is still well below the average of EU member states, which is currently 12.75 cents per kilowatt. According to Eurostat, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom are among the countries with the most expensive electricity. Among the countries of the wider region, electricity for citizens of Bulgaria costs seven cents, Romania 7.9 cents and Turkey 10.5 cents.
Electricity prices will only grow in the future primarily due to the abrupt closure of nuclear reactors in Europe. Additional pressure is also caused by great droughts in most European countries.
Source Serbia Energy Magazine