H1 2026 Evaluation
Albania Reservoir Transparency
F2Opaque — Ranked #133 out of 167 countries
weight 30%
weight 20%
weight 15%
weight 13%
weight 10%
weight 8%
weight 5%
Primary source evaluated
KESH — Korporata Elektroenergjetike Shqiptare (Albanian Power Corporation)
https://www.kesh.al/en/Dimension breakdown
Data Availability
20% of total score
Albania's electricity system is ~98% dependent on hydropower, making reservoir storage data critically important — yet no entity publishes it in a structured, routine, machine-readable way. KESH (operator of Fierza 2,700 Mm³, Koman 1,600 Mm³, Vau i Dejës 580 Mm³ on the Drin cascade) published sporadic 'Situation Update' press releases in 2021 that included point-in-time water levels in metres above sea level for all three reservoirs, but the most recent Situation Update page (kesh.al/en/announcement/situation-update/) shows only a January 2021 entry — these updates appear to have been discontinued. KESH's main website as of 2026 lists no live reservoir level dashboard, no downloadable dataset, and no API. Devoll Hydropower (Statkraft/DHP, operating Banja ~400 Mm³ and Moglicë ~380 Mm³) joined the European Energy Exchange Transparency Platform in 2020 and publishes annual governance reports, but these contain no reservoir level time series. OST (Albanian TSO, full ENTSO-E member since March 2017) does not submit 16.1.D reservoir filling data to the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform — confirmed by Energy Community implementation reports noting persistent data publication gaps. Albania's national open data portal (opendata.gov.al) and Open Data Albania (ndiqparate.al) contain electricity production statistics from KESH (MWh output, sourced from ERE) for 2007–2021 but no water level or volumetric storage series. ERE annual reports discuss hydrological conditions narratively but publish no downloadable reservoir datasets.
Technical Accessibility
15% of total score
The data that does exist is published in the most inaccessible format possible: ad hoc HTML press releases on KESH's announcements page (discontinued since 2021). There is no API, no downloadable CSV, no structured dataset, no machine-readable format of any kind. OST's open data portal (opendata.ost.al) covers interconnection flows, substation voltages, and system operation data — not hydropower reservoir levels. ERE publishes annual PDF reports and regulatory decisions. Devoll Hydropower's annual performance reports (PDF) contain narrative disclosures of energy production and environmental metrics but no time series of reservoir levels. The technical barrier to accessing even the discontinuous point-in-time data that exists requires manual web scraping of HTML announcement archives spanning 249+ pages on KESH's website.
Coverage
30% of total score
Methodology v1.3.0 (capacity-weighted). Albania's qualifying national reservoir capacity is approximately 3,500 hm³ — actually closer to ~5,800 hm³ across the Drin cascade alone (Fierza 2,700, Koman 1,600, Vau i Dejës 580) plus Banja (400) and Moglicë (380) on the Devoll, Ulëz (242), Bovilla (80 Tirana water supply) and Shkopet (12); the ~3,500 hm³ figure used here is conservative referencing the strategic Drin cascade plus Devoll. KESH discontinued its 'Situation Update' press releases after early 2021, OST does not submit 16.1.D reservoir filling data to ENTSO-E, and Devoll Hydropower publishes annual governance reports without storage time series. Covered capacity through current sustained public reporting is 0 hm³. Coverage = round(100 × 0 / 3,500) = 0.
Historical Depth
13% of total score
No systematic historical time series of reservoir storage levels is publicly available for any Albanian reservoir. Media reporting and the KESH 2025 year-end statement reference Fierza's water level on specific dates (e.g., 269.22 m at start of 2025, 278.76 m at end of 2025, average flows of 145 m³/s vs. 183 m³/s multi-year mean), demonstrating that KESH maintains internal records with multi-decade baselines (30-year averages cited). However, these records are not published. The publicly accessible archive of KESH situation updates covers only isolated dates in early 2021 — far less than one year of data. Albania's Institute of GeoSciences (IGEO, Department of Hydrology) maintains a monitoring network of 105 manual + 25 automatic stations, but its data is archived internally and not publicly downloadable. Academic papers reference historical Fierza data going back to the dam's 1978 commissioning, but always from internal KESH sources that are not open.
Update Frequency
10% of total score
No reservoir data is currently published with any regularity. The only precedent — KESH's 'Situation Update' press releases — appeared to be issued on an ad hoc basis (not daily, not weekly, not monthly) during periods of operational stress in early 2021, and have not been published since. ENTSO-E's 16.1.D mandate requires weekly aggregated filling-rate submissions, which Albania does not fulfil. OST's open data portal provides real-time grid operational data (frequency, load, substation voltages) but nothing hydrological. The Energy Community 2024 Implementation Report explicitly identifies Albania's failure to publish required electricity market data on the ENTSO-E platform, including generation by production type. Reservoir update frequency is effectively zero on any public channel.
Methodological Transparency
8% of total score
The KESH situation updates from 2021 published water levels in metres above sea level (masl) with reference to maximum quota for each reservoir, which provides enough context to estimate fill percentage if the reservoir bathymetry is known. However, no volume-to-elevation curves are publicly available for Fierza, Koman, or Vau i Dejës. KESH's Transparency Programme (Programi i Transparencës) linked from their website covers corporate governance, financial disclosures, and environmental monitoring reports — not operational reservoir data. Devoll Hydropower conducts continuous sediment monitoring via ADCP and bathymetric surveys every 5–10 years under EBRD's Environmental and Social Action Plan, but these are not public. ERE and the Energy Community have flagged the absence of systematic data publication methodology without being able to mandate corrections to date. Albania's EITI reporting covers hydropower sector revenues and production but not storage data.
Language and Usability
5% of total score
KESH's website is bilingual Albanian/English, with situation updates and the English homepage both available. OST's open data portal (opendata.ost.al) is in English. ERE's annual reports are published in Albanian only, with no English translation. Devoll Hydropower/Statkraft Albania publishes its annual report in English. The Energy Community's implementation reports on Albania are in English. Albania's national open data portal (opendata.gov.al) is in Albanian only. Open Data Albania (ndiqparate.al) has an English version. Overall, the English accessibility of the limited data that does exist is moderate: the key operator (KESH) provides bilingual access, but primary regulatory and statistical sources are Albanian-only.
Evaluator notes
Albania presents a paradox in reservoir data transparency: the country whose electricity system is most critically dependent on reservoir storage in the entire European region — roughly 98% of generation comes from hydropower — publishes essentially no reservoir water level or storage volume data in any structured, machine-readable, or regularly updated form. The three Drin cascade reservoirs operated by KESH (Fierza 2,700 Mm³, Koman 1,600 Mm³, Vau i Dejës 580 Mm³) together represent the single most important water storage system in the Western Balkans from an energy security perspective, yet their current fill levels are not published anywhere. KESH issued a handful of ad hoc 'Situation Updates' in early 2021 — point-in-time snapshots in HTML press releases — but these appear discontinued. OST joined ENTSO-E as a full member in 2017, triggering 16.1.D reporting obligations, but the Energy Community's 2024 Annual Implementation Report confirms Albania has not fulfilled its data publication obligations on the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform. This transparency gap has real-world consequences. Albania experienced severe energy crises in 2022 (11 of 13 turbines halted) and a significant drought year in 2025 (production 22% below the 30-year average), with neither crisis accompanied by public reservoir level data that would allow citizens, markets, or neighbours to understand the evolving situation. The absence is especially stark given that KESH internally tracks 30-year averages, daily inflows, and energy reserve calculations — as evidenced by their year-end 2025 press statement — but chooses not to publish this data in any structured open format. Environmental NGOs and the EBRD have separately noted that the lack of publicly available environmental monitoring data for the Drin cascade prevents civil society oversight. Devoll Hydropower (Statkraft, operating Banja and Moglicë) represents a partial positive: as the first Albanian member of the European Energy Exchange Transparency Platform since 2020, DHP fulfils broader electricity market transparency requirements and publishes annual performance reports in English. However, even DHP does not publish reservoir water level time series. The path to improvement for Albania would require KESH to resume and regularise its situation updates, ideally in structured JSON or CSV, and for OST to submit 16.1.D data to ENTSO-E — both steps that would have outsized regional energy-security benefit given the Drin cascade's cross-border importance to North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Montenegro.
Evaluated by Jaime Delgado · 2026-09-15 · Methodology v1.3.0