Third big solar power project without subsidies enters pipeline in Albania

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania accepted the application by Info-Telecom for a 50 MW solar power plant in Fier, the third such project of the same size in the same municipality. The photovoltaic facility won’t be eligible for any kind of government support.

The solar power market in Albania is in expansion, mostly due to renewable energy auctions, but legal reforms and a rapid drop in equipment costs over the past decade enabled the emergence of another segment. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy announced that it accepted the application from telecommunications operator Info-Telecom, which intends to build a photovoltaic system of 50 MW on a fully commercial basis.

It is the third such project under development in the Fier municipality in the country’s southwest and they are all planned to be of the same size. The ministry issued installation licenses more than two months ago for two solar power plants of 50 MW each, called Blue 1 and Blue 2, to domestic firms Blessed Investment and Matrix Konstruksion.

The projects are not subject to concession agreements or to subsidies and their output will be sold on the market. However, Blue 1 and 2 are obligated to pay royalty proceeds to the ministry in electricity or money equal to 2% of annual production.

The site for the project that Info-Telecom is developing is in Libofshë, between the city of Fier and the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park, where Voltalia is about to build its 140 MW Karavasta solar power plant. The voice carrier serves private clients in Albania and Kosovo*.