A Data-Driven Assessment of the Electricity Demand-the Case of Albania

The Albanian power system has long benefited from the flexibility of hydro-based generation. However, the country is subject to hydrological alteration and a lack of generation diversity. This paper investigates the system-wide and regional electricity demand based on a data-driven approach. Besides, the paper assesses the elasticity of electricity consumption to temperature. Historical data highlights that electricity self-sufficiency has only been accomplished in 3 out of the last 10 years. On the one hand, the electricity consumption behavior is highly correlated (up to 72.68 %) with temperature. On the other hand, the yearly regional electricity demand is related more to population numbers rather than purchasing power or household appliances. Although, such observation is affected by high regional (North part) distribution system losses. The comfort region ranges from $20.3-24.3^{\circ}C$, while the heating and cooling demand saturate at 3 and $32^{\circ}C$, respectively. Lastly, the largest values for the rate of demand increase to the temperature on the heating and cooling region are $29 MWh/^{\circ}C$ and $21 MWh/^{\circ}C$, each.