Electricity

Albania gets fresh EUR 12 million loan for strategic Dam Safety Project

Photo: KESH

Published

June 6, 2018

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

June 6, 2018

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

Albania has drawn an additional EUR 12 million in lending for its Dam Safety Project to safeguard hydroelectric dams and extend the operating life of hydropower plants on two rivers, including the Drin Cascade, which accounts for the bulk of the country’s electricity generation.

The three hydropower plants (HPPs) in the Drin Cascade – Fierza, Komani, and Vau i Dejes – with total installed capacity of 1350 MW, generate about 70% of total electricity supply in Albania and play an important role in the country’s objectives to increase regional power connectivity, decrease future dependence on thermal power supply, and create a Regional Power Market in South-East Europe (SEE), according to the World Bank, which approved the additional lending.

This Drin Cascade’s role will become more significant as the Montenegro-Italy undersea transmission line starts operations in 2020, thus enabling Albania, and its public electricity generation company, Albanian Power Corporation (KESH) in particular, to take advantage of price differentials in the region, according to the World Bank.

At the same time, the Albanian Power Exchange and balancing market are expected to become operational in 2019, which would lead to a market pricing system that would enable the HPPs along the Drin Cascade to provide reliable secondary regulation to neighboring countries, ancillary services, and peak capacity in the regional market.

Part of a wider Dam Safety Program

The Dam Safety Project, which also covers two smaller HPPs on the Mat river, privatized in 2012 – Ulez and Skkopet – is part of a larger Dam Safety Program, also backed by other international finance institutions (IFI).

Prior to the recently approved second additional loan worth EUR 12 million, the World Bank extended the original credit worth about EUR 26.3 million and the and the first additional loan of EUR 15.5 million.

The program has also been supported by the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs of the Swiss Confederation (SECO), with a CHF 6.4 million grant, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with a EUR 15.7 million loan, and German development bank KfW, with a EUR 20 million loan and a EUR 0.32 million grant.

KESH has set aside EUR 10 million from own sources for the program.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment

Related Articles

dimitar dimitrov reib bess bef 2025

Dimitar Dimitrov: Battery developers should seek insurance in early project stages

16 June 2025 - Investors in batteries should approach insurance companies or brokers as early as the project development stage, said Dimitar Dimitrov

serbia naled CBAM analysis jobs

NALED urges action to protect jobs at energy-intensive industries threatened by CBAM

13 June 2025 - The National Alliance for Local Economic Development has called on the state to introduce measures to protect energy-intensive industries

serbia suncarlito beta solar token subotica solar power plant

SunCarlito Beta issues tokens to raise funds for 2.2 MW solar power plant in Serbia

13 June 2025 - Investors can buy 3,402 tokens called Solar Token ST_1, priced at EUR 500 each. The deadline to purchase the tokens is July 9

nuclear power plant reactor edf france

French power prices jump as EDF looks into possible nuclear reactor defect

12 June 2025 - France’s state-owned power utility EDF is investigating apparent corrosion cracks found at the Civaux 2 nuclear reactor.