Four hydropower plants for sale

TIRANA, May 31 – Four small and medium-sized hydropower plants, currently under state ownership and managed by the Albanian Power Corporation KESH, have been included on the privatization list of 1,280 public assets. The hydropower plants (HPP), which the government intends to sell, include the Ulez and Shkopet HPPs on the River Mat, in northern Albania, and two small HPPs on the Bistrica River, in southern Albania. The four HPPs are reported to have an installed power of 77 Megawatts, accounting for 5.3 percent of hydro electricity produced by KESH. The sale of the hydropower plants was initially announced last November by former Minister of Economy, Ilir Meta. The draft law was approved on Wednesday by the parliamentary economy committee amid debates even by majority deputies. Andi Harasani was the only deputy of the Socialist Party present in the session breaking the opposition’s parliamentary boycott. “Albania will have as public property only big dams, schools, hospitals and public land; everything else will be completely under the possession and management of the private sector,” said Prime Minister Berisha, adding that this will make the Albanian economy much more competitive. The big dams include the River Drin cascade in northern Albania where three HPPs account for 85 percent of domestically produced electricity. The favourable hydro-situation in the country’s hydropower plants (HPPs) secured the Albanian Power Corporation (KESH) a record 120 million Euros in profit from electricity exports in 2010. INSTAT data show that net exports in 2010 more than tripled, increasing to 1.73 million MWh, up from only 486,418 MWh in 2009. Meanwhile, electricity imports in 2010 dropped by 48.9 percent constituting only 11.5 percent of total energy resources.