Albanian government grants waste management concession to Dutch company

The Albanian Ministry of the Environment selected the Dutch company Integrated Energy BV to build an incinerator and rehabilitate landfills used by the Albanian capital Tirana. Integrated Energy B.V. made an offer of EUR 128 million at a tender called by the Albanian Ministry of the Environment.

The tender called for a public-private partnership for “landfill construction, incinerator and rehabilitation of existing landfills in Tirana” under a concession for a period of 30 years. The new incinerator plant which will produce electricity by burning solid waste and a new landfill will be built south and east of the existing landfill in Tirana.

The Amsterdam-based company was the only bidder at the tender that was called just weeks prior to the general elections in Albania, submitting its offer on June 12, 2017. The elections were held on June 25, 2017.

Local media: concession granted without public consultation

Albanian media expressed doubts about the organization of the tender, claiming it favored the Dutch company and that the awarding of the concession creates a monopoly.

Integrated Energy B.V. will provide a public service paid for by the state through the sale of electricity produced by burning waste to the Albanian Albanian Power Corporation (KESH), the sale of recyclable materials, and through direct payments by the municipalities in the Tirana region, the Albanian media claimed.

The media in Tirana said that this tender was another case of the government granting a concession for the handling of solid waste without consulting the public. Albanian media claim that Integrated Energy B.V. submitted its proposal to the Ministry of Energy more than a year ago, in May 2016, allegedly before it was officially registered in the Netherlands. The proposal led the government to call the tender for the waste incinerator project.

According to media reports Integrated Energy B.V. was registered in the Netherlands on August 19, 2016 to “develop any activity in the field of waste processing, energy production, and similar activities, both locally and internationally, as well as holding and financing activities.”