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As can be observed from the statistical tables above, electricity production in Albania is essentially of hydro-electric origin, and hence sensitive to weather conditions and vulnerable to climate change, with a small share of geothermal origin. While Albania does not export electricity, it imports about one third of its consumption from neighbouring countries.

In practice, the electricity sector of Albania still operates mainly under regulated conditions. The wholesale market is dominated by the state-owned, regulated electricity production company Korporata Elektro-energjitike e Shqiptare (KESh). KESh operates the three state-owned large hydro generation plants and the (currently non-functional) thermal power plant Vlora. (...)

Authorizations for new hydropower plants are granted based on the Concession Law (Law No. 9663 of 18 June 2006, as amended by Law No. 125/2013 on concessions and PPP) and a competitive bidding process, or through the authorization of the construction of new power generating facilities regulated by Decision No. 822 of the Council of Ministers. Power plants below 2 MW which are not subject to the Concession Law are granted an authorization by the Ministry in charge of energy.

The Law "On renewable energy", No. 138/2013, was adopted in May 2013. Albania has committed to a binding 38% target of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources in 2020. In 2009, it was 31.2%. This Law transposes the 10% renewables target by 2020 in the transport sector from Directive 2009/28/EC. It also provides that the Government shall approve simplified procedures on issuing the necessary authorizations for producers of renewable energy. However, these procedures have not yet been established.

In addition, the 2015 Power Sector Law provides for priority and guaranteed access of renewable energy producers to the electricity networks, and also priority dispatch of electricity produced from renewable sources. The 2008 Law "On biofuels" introduced some measures required under the then-relevant EU Directive, but it was never implemented. It is about to be revised with a view to transposing the requirements of Directive 2009/28/EC on sustainability criteria and introducing more adequate incentive measures. For now, Albania applies operational support only to electricity from hydropower. Energy from renewable sources other than hydropower is currently not supported.

The Albanian business and investment development strategy for the period 2014–2020 assigns, in addition to the traditional objectives of competitivity, diversification and technological development, particular priority to the value chain of mineral products, to the recycling industry and to inward processing ("façon").

Box 4.9 Maritime Transport Regulatory Framework
GATS commitments:
- Albania has undertaken additional commitments on access to/use of port services (pilotage/towing and tug assistance/provisioning, fuelling and watering/garbage collection and ballast waste disposal/port captain's services/navigation aids/shore based operational services essential to ship operations including communication, water and electrical suppliers, emergency repair facilities, and anchorage, berth and berthing services); and
(...)

Table A3.2 Tariff lines with applied MFN tariffs exceeding the bound rates, 2015
Tariff code Product descriptions 2015
Applied tariff
(%)a Bound
rates
(%)b
38247800 Containing perfluorocarbons (PFCs) or hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), but not containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) 2 0
(...)

UAE enjoys a sustainable and diversified economy, flexible in adopting new economic models, and capitalizing on global economic partnerships to guarantee long-term prosperity for current and future generations. Thus, to sustain its drive toward economic diversification, as this is the nation’s surest path to sustainable development in a future that is less reliant on oil. This means expanding new strategic sectors to channel energies into industries and services to build a long-term competitive advantage.
Balanced growth must be fuelled by a sustainable range of energy sources, within which UAE will ensure an important role for alternative and renewable options such as nuclear power and solar energy.

On the liberalization of services within the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), the Council had liberalized trade in services for roughly 100 subsectors of services, including (...) environmental services, (...)