Consortium led by India Power Corporation wins bid to build 100 MW solar power plant

The Albanian Energy and Infrastructure Ministry has selected a consortium led by India Power Corporation to build the country’s first solar power plant with an installed capacity of 100 MW, in an investment worth EUR 70 million.

The members of the consortium, which was selected among 3 bidders in the final phase of the bidding procedure, also include the UAE-based Mining Resources FZE and Hong-Kong-based Midami Limited. Albania’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy launched the bidding procedure for the construction of the solar power plant in August and received six bids.

The government will commit itself to buy electricity from a 50 MW portion of the plant at a fixed price of EUR 0.0599/kWh over 15 years, while the investor will be able to sell electricity from the remaining 50 MW generation capacity, not subject to support measures, on the market.

The state-owned distribution system operator OSHEE will purchase the electricity from the 50 MW solar power plant which will be built in Akerni area, near the city of Vlora.

The deadline for building the plant is 18 months after the signing of the contract between the consortium and the Albanian government.

The achieved price of EUR 0.0599/kWh is one of the region’s lowest for solar energy, lower compared to Greece’s EUR 0.063/kWh and Turkey’s EUR 0.062/kWh, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said.

In May 2017, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Albanian Ministry of Energy and Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (the MoU) on cooperation to develop the regulatory framework for solar power and the subsequent development of solar power projects.

The arrangement was to facilitate the development of projects in Albania through an auction-based system.

The country could get another solar power plant on the Drin River Cascade. Albania’s state-owned power utility KESH plans to install a 12.9 MW floating solar power plant on the Vau i Dejes reservoir.  The Vau i Dejes reservoir is part of HPP Vau i Dejes, one of three HPPs on the Drin River Cascade.

KESH seeks to diversify its energy mix, which is almost entirely dependent on hydropower plants (HPPs).