TIRANA, May 25 – The Albanian government says it is considering a public-private partnership to make the Vlora thermal power plant operational ahead of the first gas flows from the Trans Adriatic Pipeline by 2020.
“We have secured funds on the feasibility study and I believe we will soon have the opportunity to attract private partners. We target finding a private operator through a public-private partnership that will undertake to make operational, repair and convert the plant to gas,” says Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri.
Public-private partnerships have become a hot topic in Albanian politics after some risky concessions and warnings by international financial institutions that some 55 public-private partnerships the Albanian governments have signed during the past decade, have created commitments with a present value of about 7 percent of the GDP or €700 million in which the government will either pay the cost of the investment in installments or guarantee the revenue of concessionaires.
TAP scheduled to bring Caspian gas to Europe through Albania, Greece and Italy is the only hope for the costly Vlora thermal power plant, a new 97 MW $112 millions low-sulphur distillate oil fuelled power plant, available for use since 2010, but which has not been put to use because of high fuel costs.
The power plant has not been taken over by Albanian power utility KESH yet as it faces an arbitration trial with an Italian company that built it due to financial disputes and problems in the plant’s cooling system. TAP has already launched its works in the Albanian section with the construction of access roads and bridges. Its route through Albania is approximately 215 km onshore and 37 km offshore in the Albanian section of the Adriatic Sea.
TAP which is expected to bring gas to Europe through Greece, Albania and Italy will generate one of that Albania’s largest FDI projects, with important benefits for a number of industries, including manufacturing, utilities and transport, experts say.
