The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) are contributing to greater energy security of Albania and helping to improve the country’s energy mix by offering a financial package of up to €39.2 million for the construction of a 50MWp solar photovoltaic plant.
The EBRD’s sovereign guaranteed loan of up to €30 million will be extended to Korporata Elelektroenergjitike Shqiptare (KESH) – Albania’s main state-owned power utility responsible for the production of almost 65 per cent of electricity in the country. Once operational, the new solar plant should be able to generate over 70GWh of renewable energy annually.
The EU is supporting the project with an investment grant of up to €8 million and technical assistance funding for project implementation of up to €1.2 million through its Western Balkans Investment Framework.
Although Albania has one of the largest shares (around 95 per cent) of renewable energy in its energy mix among the states of south-eastern Europe, its installed renewable capacity largely consists of hydropower generation. It can be affected by the global warming and in particularly dry years the country has rely on imported electricity, for up to half of the total consumption, from neighbouring countries.
The project, also supported by the government of Austria with project preparation funding through the EBRD’s High-Impact Partnership on Climate Action, is not only addressing this issue by helping to add renewable solar capacity, but also contributing to objectives of Albania’s Energy Strategy and National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP).
According to NREAP, the country is committed to increase the share of renewable energy in the total output to 54 per cent by 2030. Albania is also aiming to increase its non-hydro renewables to almost 640MW by 2030, of which 490MW is planned to come from solar photovoltaic plants.
As part of the project, KESH is planning to introduce training modules and incentives which will help to create employment opportunities for women.
To date, the EBRD has invested more than €2.2 billion in Albania through 166 projects.
