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VOA: Investments in solar energy have seen significant growth in Albania

2023-06-19 19:40:40, Aktualitet CNA

VOA: Investments in solar energy have seen significant growth in Albania

Illustrative photo

Almost a year after the start of works on the solar energy park in the Karavasta area, the first rows of solar panels have begun to be assembled on the desert and salty land.

The activity is being carried out by the French company "Voltaila" and the Karavasta project is estimated as the largest foreign investment in Albania this year with a volume of works of about 150 million dollars.

"In Karavasta near the city of Fier, Voltalia is building a large photovoltaic park on about 200 ha of land provided by the Government. We are installing a capacity of 140 MW under a long-term concession agreement signed in 2021. Since 2022 we are building this power plant and it will provide the first energy before the end of this year (2023). The plant will provide energy for about 220,000 families", says the manager of Voltaila in Albania, Dr. Constantin von Alvensleben.

"Under a similar competitive tender process, Voltalia was also selected for a solar park in Spitalle, near the city of Durrës. This is also a very large project, but still at an early stage. Construction will begin in 2024 and we want to provide energy to Spitalle at the end of 2025," said the representative of the Voltaila company in Albania.

Asked about the challenges and the future of this sector in Albania, Mr. Alvensleeben says:

"We think that renewable energy will have a great future in Albania! The government has set a target to cover 54% of Albania's total energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2030. This will require a large number of additional projects in solar and wind energy to meet this goal. However, to implement such projects, there are a number of challenges. Often, the biggest problem for a developer is to find suitable land and make a agreement with the owner. Often the ownership situation of land plots is not clear. But also the processes of granting permits can take a long time, which extends the time frame of the project. In any case,we think that Albania offers many opportunities and with the support of the government, further projects will be able to be successfully implemented".

In the interview for the Voice of America, Mr. Alvensleeben also talks about how important "green projects" are for Albania.

"Our objective is always to minimize the impacts on the environment and to have the most positive possible result for biodiversity. Likewise to minimize the social impact. For both of these components, the environmental and the social, we have our teams that always work with experts environmental and social who take care that the impacts on the environment are limited", he says.

The Energy Regulatory Body licensed 22 new energy production entities during the past year. 15 of them belong to solar energy with a production capacity of over 227 thousand MW.

The number of photovoltaic plants last year reached 27, but their production is still low with about 50 thousand MWh of energy from 7 million MW, which was the total energy produced in Albania during 2022.

Sadik Llapashtica, coordinator of the project with solar panels in Topoja, which has been in production for several years, says that the solar energy sector has gained priority.

"The solar energy market in Albania is moving at a very good pace, this is also due to the energy crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war. This market is only seeing growth, many licenses have been granted for photovoltaic energy and some of them have been commissioned this year and others are in the process. This is a very good trend for Albania which helps to increase production capacities from renewable energy which is the world trend today to preserve the global environment. This trend is very well supported by the Albanian government, the Ministry of Energy has taken steps to help local and foreign investors to invest in the Albanian market, given that Albania is also one of the countries with very good solar radiation," he says . .

Asked about the challenges of the solar energy production sector, Mr. Llapashtica says:

"The challenges are now related to the increase in energy transmission capacities. Based on the fact that we are dealing with solar energy, which is limited from morning to evening when the sun goes down, investors should anticipate energy reserves because humanity needs energy not only during the day, but also at night. As is happening in the European and world market, investing at the same time in the development of solar panels and batteries is a path that ensures economic effectiveness in this market"

According to the Energy Regulatory Agency, the regions of Korça and Fier have the highest number of solar energy projects, while the use of panels in households or businesses is also being promoted recently./ VOA