TIRANA, June 24 – An Italian company has been awarded a licence to build the first wind farm in northern Albania.
Italy based Energie Rinnovabili Albania (ERA) has been given the green light by Albania’s energy ministry to build a 36MW wind farm expected to produce 104,400 MWh/year with German technology employing 12 towers in the Fushe-Kuqe -Laç area. The investment, expected to be completed in only 8 months, will cost the Italian company around Euro 54 million and be operational for 20 to 30 years.
The company will pay the Albanian government a royalty of only 2 percent of the annual sales of electricity generated from the country’s first wind farm.
“Albania has untapped wind power potential, in particular along the Adriatic coast but does not have any wind power production facility yet. A number of areas with high wind energy potential, the average annual wind speed of 6-8 m/s and energy density of 250-600 W/m2, have already been identified. At least, 20 potential wind farms can be constructed in these areas,” says the Albanian Investment Development Agency in a bulletin on renewable energy in Albania.
Several domestic and foreign investors have already been licensed to explore wind power production opportunities, while a major investment for a 150 MW wind farm is in the planning stage. The government’s target is to generate 5 percent of total electricity from wind sources by 2020.
