EVALUATING THE ENERGY DEMAND AND SOURCES IN BALKAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

Balkan region can be considered as a transition location between Europe and Asia.The area is reach in terms of water and forest resources. The countries that includeAlbania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia arenot energy reach countries in terms of energy resources and power generationtechnologies. On the other hand, these countries have increasing power and energydemand that should be balanced with cost effective, reliable and long termresources. Energy is accepted as a very important requirement for developing andunder-developed countries and its importance is increasing as the populationincreases and technology develops. The companies that have international capitalhesitate to invest in the region due to the problems with political and economicstability in the region. As a result of their geopolitical location, the region is in themiddle of energy transportation routes. Hence, this advantage can be used foreconomic benefit. Another important issue is the natural gas pipeline projects thatinclude nabucco and south stream that will pass through Balkan countries. Theseprojects bring some reliability and new opportunities for the economy of thecountries. The current electricity generation infrastructure in the region is old andusually coal based and hydroelectricity supported. In this research, the energystatus of the Balkan countries first presented and then the supply-demand growth ofenergy are analyzed to show the shortages, surpluses and dependency of thecountries.