South-east Europe energy policies

South-east Europe (SEE) is at the hub of several contradictory factors influencing the development of its energy systems. On one hand, it is endowed with plentiful sources of renewable energy and has vast potential for increasing energy efficiency. On the other its legacy of communist-era power plants and inefficient transmission and distribution systems means that electricity generation continues to be associated with large, centralised, highly polluting facilities, or in some cases - particularly Albania - ageing and unreliable large hydropower plants. The regions energy intensity is very high - in the cases of Serbia and Kosovo up to 2.5 times that of European OECD countries - due to ageing power plants from the 60s and 70s, dilapidated and inefficient distribution networks and inefficiency on the demand side. Many buildings are poorly insulated and the use of electricity
for space heating is common in urban areas, while in rural areas wood is the dominant fuel. The private car use is growing (with a high proportion of relatively old vehicles in some countries), and electrical appliances are growing in number but many are still old and inefficient.