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Balkans countries was built in the 1960s and 1970s
and is already in need of widespread rehabilitation
and replacement (IEA, 2008). Climate change is
expected to pose risks to power transmission network
functions, and reduce efficiency or alter structural
integrity, especially for older, poorly maintained
facilities (UNEP/ENVSEC, 2012).
Accompanying the expected decreases in annual river
discharge and changing seasonality of river flows,
overall hydropower production in Europe including
the Western Balkans is expected to decrease by 1.66
TWh, or 1.43 percent compared to 2005 production
levels (Hamududu and Killingtveit, 2012). One study
from Croatia predicts that energy generation from
Solar electricity potential
Source:GlobalEnergyNetwork Institute,
(geni.org,accessNovember2015).
Yearly sum of global irradiation received by optimally-inclined
PV modules
1 650
1 550
1 400
1 300
1 800
kWh/m2
100 km
Copyright© 2015GRID-Arendal • Cartografare ilpresente/NievesLópez Izquierdo
Wind power potential
100 km
Source:GlobalEnergyNetwork Institute,
(geni.org,accessNovember2015).
m/s
> 9.4
5.9 - 6.9
< 5.9
Annual mean
wind speeds
at a height of 80 m
Copyright© 2015GRID-Arendal • Cartografare ilpresente/NievesLópez Izquierdo
Geothermal energy potential
Geothermal
heat-flow density*
* Measures the relationship between
heat-flow and temperature gradient.
100 km
Source:GlobalEnergyNetwork Institute,
(geni.org,accessNovember2015).
80
50
30
0
150
mW/m
2
Copyright© 2015GRID-Arendal • Cartografare ilpresente/NievesLópez Izquierdo
Renewable energy provides a significant share of
the region’s energy and is higher than the EU-27
average (EEA, 2008). Almost all of the renewable
energy comes from large hydropower plants;
wind, solar and geothermal sources remain
negligible at less than 1 per cent of the total.
The EU, as part of its terms for accession, will
require all countries to have larger proportions
of energy from renewable sources. Investments
in hydropower, biodiesel, wind and solar power
stations will multiply (Ralchev, 2012). The share
Renewable energies in the Western Balkans and future plans
of renewable energies within the total energy
mix is expected to increase significantly, with
hydropower remaining the largest source of
renewable energy (EEA, 2008).
More than 500 hydropower projects are under
development in the Western Balkans region
(IUCN, 2015). Many of these will take place
on largely intact river systems and within or in
proximity to key biodiversity sites within the
region (IUCN).