Albania and Bulgaria asked the European Commission and the European Union on Monday to look into the possibility of resuming the operation of the two closed units of a Bulgarian nuclear power plant.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his visiting Bulgarian counterpart Sergey Stanishev made the appeal at their meeting in Tirana, saying it would be a great help to lessen Albanian ongoing energy crisis, if the two units were to be reactivated.

The two units of the Bulgarian nuclear power plant were ordered to shut down by the European Union at the beginning of this year out of security concern.

The two prime ministers said that the closure of the two units had damaged the regional energy market as a whole. Albania is the worst hit.

"Bulgarian doesn't have the capacity to help Albania, if the two units remain closed," Stanishev warned.

Albania has been heavily dependent on hydropower and imported electricity. But lack of rain and decreased power export from its Balkan neighbors have plunged the whole country into darkness, with power cuts across the country ranging from 5 to 14 hours a day.

Source: Xinhua