SURVEY ON HCFC CONSUMPTION IN ALBANIA. 7-th MEETING OF THE REGIONAL OZONE NETWORK FOR EUROPE&CENTRAL ASIA , ALBANIA, TIRANA 25-28 MARCH 2008 SURVEY ON HCFC CONSUMPTION IN ALBANIA. Prepared by Prof. Gazmend Gjyli
SURVEY ON HCFC CONSUMPTION IN ALBANIA. In the 19 meeting of the Parties, which took place in Montreral last September, the Parties gave the guidance to the Executive Committee to assist Article 5 Parties in conducting surveys to improve the reability in establishing their country , s baseline data on HCFC-s Albania is in the process of implementing the Country Program to phase-out CFCs and is on the way to achieve the commitments to totally phase out these substances before 2010. The focus will in the coming years change to the HCFC-substances with lower ODS. These are planned for a total phase-out 2040. This might seem a long time but many countries are increasing the consumption of HCFC rapidly and risk to build an infrastructure that can be costly to convert in the future. Albania has a population of about 3,4 million people part of which has migrated abroad. The country’s economic growth is about 6% in a year. The economical situation is improving after restructuring of the economy and tourism is one of the growth areas in Albania. The result is that air-conditioning and refrigeration is expected to increase with 5 to 10% during the coming years.
During the last 3-4 years there has been a rapid decrease of import of R‑22 equipment not due to end-user demand for alternative refrigerants but due to that most of the importers have only had access to the units sold on the European market. The phase out in Europe have had a strong impact on the relatively small Albanian market. But there is a concern that some importers that are getting stronger on the market are looking on direct purchasing from Asia of lower priced R-22 equipment. HCFCs are readily available and are from the short term perspective often the most familiar and lowest cost alternative. Many equipment owners are not well informed about the possibility of that a future quotation/shortage of R-22 could occur due to the commitments to the Montreal Protocol or even more stringent regulations implemented in the future in the process to harmonise with EU. With the new phase-out schedule of HCFC-s it becomes urgent for Albania to develop and implement a plan to reduce the consumption and eventually phase out also the use of HCFC-s
ALBANIAN LEGISLATION The approval of the the Council of Ministers' Decree Nr. 453 on 23.06.2005, on “Taking the measures for the removal of the Ozone Depleting Substances" has fulfilled one of the main obligations of the Albanian Government toward the Montreal Protocol. The establishment of the licensing system, The establishment of a quota system, The establishment of ODS database report system.( in this low are not including HCFC) Albanian Parliament has approved the London Amendment of MP with law nr ’9484, date 02.03.2006. The Albanian Parliament through the Law nr 9480 approved the Copenhagen Amendment of MP on 16.02.2006. The Albanian Parliament approved the Montreal Amendment of MP through the Law nr 9485 date 06.03.2006 and the Beijing Amendments of Montreal Protocol through law nr 9486 date 06.03.2006. The preparation of the Guide by General Customs Authority and the improvement of the Risk Profile for ODS Tariff Code. The preparation of the Manual for the Customs.
The import licensing system for HCFC is not in place at this time As there is no import licensing system for HCFCs there would be no limitations for other companies to import. Based on the information we can estimate that there are more than 400 technicians that assemble and repair refrigerators and air-condition. Reliable statistics are not available for the different sectors. There are some statistics available on the import of smaller air-conditioning units The conclusions from the 2004 country-wide inventory are: - Have been sold 11118 houses air-condition units. - Have been 144 points of sales of refrigerators and air-condition - Have been 38 companies have been that assemble refrigerators and air-condition - About 90 companies have been that repair refrigerators and air- condition - Based on the information we can estimate that have been about 350 technicians that assemble and repair refrigerators and air-condition In 2005 reported import of air-conditioning systems was 24191. - Based on the information we can estimate that have been about 380 technicians that assemble and repair refrigerators and air-condition
In 2006 reported import of air-conditioning systems was 36980. - This number has been increasing relative the imports five to ten years ago.. - The total consumption of Annex C substances in 2006 in Albania was 45 Mt. In 2007 - The consumption of HCFCs is 40-50tonns (R-22) - There are four companies that import R-22 - The number of import of air-conditioning systems for Jan-October 2007 was 46340. - This sector is in the third position for the energy consumption. - This sector is more developed now to compare three years ago. - Based on the information we can estimate that there are more than 400 technicians that assemble and repair refrigerators and air-condition.
NUMBER OF AIR CONDITIONS UNIT YEAR NUMBER OF AIR CONDITIONS UNIT 2004 11118 2005 24191 2006 36980 2007 46340 The largest sector is the commercial refrigeration sector that use close to 50% of the 45 Mt mainly in shops and restaurants in smaller cold rooms and larger display cases HCFC use per sub sectors(R-22 in ton): Commercial refrigeration 22.5, industrial and cold stores 9,air-conditioning (split systems and smaller chillers )13.5.
Alternative technologies to HCFC Based on the market situation in each countries a more detailed evaluation of options and recommendations should be developed Refrigeration and air-conditioning sector There is no ideal refrigerant that can replace any of the ODS without considerations to the system and application. The large volume HCFC product will be R‑22 in air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration sector. Smaller volumes will be “service blends” such as R‑401A/B and R‑402A/B used to replace CFC. In most R‑22 application the two dominating alternatives for new installation have been R‑407C and R‑410A. The alternative that is closest to R‑22 in capacity and pressure is R‑407C. Service blends The most established R‑22 drop-in alternatives is R‑417A but lately R‑422A, R‑422D and R‑423A have been launched to offer alternatives tailored for specific R‑22 applications.. Fire extinguisher The Halon Technical Option Committee has evaluated the fire extinguishing market as this was the application dominated by Halons. For halon 1301 fixed fire extinguishing systems, HFC-227ea, HFC-236fa, inert gas systems and CO2 systems seem to be the preferred none ODS substitutes.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Albania has so far regulated the use of CFCs but need to update regulations in the area of HCFC-s and look at long term regulations for the refrigeration and air‑conditioning sector to take future requirement on HCFC-s and HFC into account. As a first step the NOU needs to compile the HCFC import data and as much information as possible on industry stakeholders and end users. The second step is to identify the users and collect information on the different sectors and their knowledge about the future HCFC phase-out and their readiness to plan their phase-out. The third step is to identify measures that will facilitate a phase-out with a minimum cost to the society. The challenges to phase out HCFC-s as refrigerants are similar to those encountered in the phase-out of CFC-s. For HFC-s can be useful as input to requirements in particularly in countries that intend to harmonise their regulations with EU. 1. Marketing and use restrictions 2. Training and certification 3. Containment and recovery measures 4. Data reporting requirements
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