Through intensive fieldwork aimed at combating unauthorized consumption, CEDIS also achieved a record-low level of network losses in October, at 10.35 per cent, which is as much as 2.18 percentage points lower than in the same period of the previous year.
As a result of these ongoing activities, the loss rate for the period from January to October was reduced to 11.44 per cent, also lowering the total amount of electricity needed to cover losses. Specifically, compared with 2021, savings of 16,059 MWh of electricity were achieved, with a value of €4.4 million on the reference HUPX exchange for the period in question.
Compared with the loss rate of 12.59 per cent recorded from January to October 2020, the savings amount to 27,512 MWh of electricity, currently valued at €7.6 million.
– In the face of an unprecedented global energy crisis, thanks to our field activities, we have managed to save around 16,000 MWh over ten months, equivalent to the total October consumption of the municipalities of Nikšić and Plužine. The savings are even greater when compared with system losses in 2020. In other words, had CEDIS not taken action to detect unauthorized activity on the network, the cost of procuring these quantities of electricity would have been borne by the company, rather than recovered from customers. Under current conditions, when electricity shortfalls on the market are being procured at a significantly higher price than that paid by households and businesses, every kilowatt-hour taken without authorization represents a serious burden on the system. That is why we are determined to detect and penalize such practices. – said Vaso Zeković, Head of the Metering Sector.
Vaso Zeković
These figures are even more significant given that the loss rate of 11.44 per cent for the first ten months of the current year is around 0.7 percentage points lower than in the same period of the previous year, despite a 3.6 per cent increase in electricity consumption.
– The cost of covering system losses, which is borne by the company, is largely a consequence of illegal construction that has been devastating the area for decades while also damaging the electricity distribution network. Illegal construction entails illegal connections and, consequently, network losses. Existing infrastructure is being loaded without proper planning, increasing maintenance costs and reducing the benefits of investment. In the field, the process of detecting illegal connections and bringing them within the framework defined by law is arduous and requires the involvement of a significant number of employees. For CEDIS, particularly under the current conditions of an unprecedented energy crisis and instability in the market for equipment used to maintain the electricity network, all of this constitutes a serious financial burden. We reiterate that tackling this deeply rooted and widespread problem also requires systematic support from the prosecutorial and judicial authorities, as well as the police, which has so far been insufficient and inconsistent. In view of these negative factors, we believe that the results achieved are of particular value – Zeković concluded.
