GEK Terna launches 170 MW thermal power plant project in Albania

GEK Terna’s joint venture with domestic company Gener 2 filed for the construction of a 170 MW thermal power plant in the Fier district. It is one of the first cities in Albania that is set to get a natural gas network.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania announced that a firm called Fier Thermoelectric expressed interest in building a thermal power plant near Fier, in the country’s west, and that it submitted an application for the project. The facility would have 170 MW in capacity.

The project isn’t subject to a concession and doesn’t benefit from any support measures, according to the notice. The location is in the municipality of Roskovec.

GEK Terna and Gener 2established the joint venture in October

The company, registered in October, is 70% owned by Greek conglomerate GEK Terna, SCAN reported. Albanian firm Gener 2, active in the fields of construction, real estate, project management, engineering and the media, controls the remaining stake.

According to the documentation, the joint venture would develop the project and trade electricity, the article adds. Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku said in January that Fier would be the country’s first city to get a gas network after Korça. They were selected due to their proximity to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

Fier is located near the TAP gas pipeline

Albania is almost 100% dependent on hydropower plants in domestic electricity production. The government is making efforts to diversify the mix with solar and wind energy, but not a single wind farm has been built yet.

There is also a project for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the port city of Vlora, where a gas-fired power plant is planned to be built. In addition, state-owned electricity producer KESH has taken two floating oil-fired power plants under lease last year, but the start of operations has been delayed. Since the onset of the energy crisis, several firms have launched projects for reviving coal mines or opening such facilities.

A planned LNG terminal in Vlora is set to supply a gas-fired power plant in the area

In other developments in the energy sector, earlier this month the government approved the application filed by Nova Solar System to install a 50 MW solar power plant in Sheq Marinas, also in the Fier municipality. The planned facility is not subject to concession and the project doesn’t benefit from any state support.

The developer is obligated to commission the photovoltaic unit within three years. It has the right to operate the solar power plant for 49 years. The royalty fee is 2%. The Fier area hosts most of the solar power projects in Albania.

Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or Admie) and its Albanian counterpart, the Transmission System Operator – OST are planning to build the second interconnection between the two countries from Arachtos to Fier. The 145-kilometer cable would increase the cross-border capacity by at least 200 MW in both directions.