TIRANA, Jan. 21 – On Monday, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy announced the opening of the international auction for the construction of a photovoltaic power park with a capacity of 140 megawatts in Albania. The park will be built on a surface area of 198 hectares located on the border between Divjaka and Fier. Minister Belinda Balluku stated that it is expected tol be the largest park in the country which will generate solar energy.
Out of the total produced energy, the winning company will be able to sell 70 megawatts on the market, while another 70 megawatts, which will be purchased by the Energy Distribution Operator during a 15- year period, will be valued at a fixed price.
The amount of foreseen investments is around 100 million euros. According to Balluku, “the procedure and the selected area enable an inflow of investments that are quickly returned to the investors, simultaneously guaranteeing the Albanian state a domestic product at a very low price for 70 megawatts.” As regards to the area on which the park be built, the minister explained that it is a flat surface in addition to being one of the three areas with the highest sunlight intensity.
The procedures on the other hand, will provide for the preliminary resolution of some issues. Part of the auction documentation is also the Environmental Permit, the Project Development Permit as well as the contract that will be signed with the OSSHE on the fixed price.
The auction will remain open for 54 days and will close on March 16th. The submitted documents by the bidding parties will then be evaluated during a 21-day period and the winner will be announced on April 6.
In 2018, a similar auction was also initiated by the Albanian authorities for the construction of a photovoltaic park in Akroni, Vlora, with an installed generation capacity of 50 MW and an additional 50 MW (100 MW in total) to be traded in the energy market. On November 11, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy officially announced “the successful completion of the open bidding selection procedure. ”
Of the 6 companies that submitted their bids, only three were qualified. Based on the evaluation procedure, the bid with the highest value, due to “a combination of technical, financial, similar experience, price and additional installed capacity”, was that submitted by the joint venture between ‘India Power Corporation Ltd’ registered in India, ‘Mining Resources FZE’ registered in the United Arab Emirates and ‘Midami Limited’ registered in Hong Kong.
The winning joint venture surpassed international and renowned companies in the global energy market. The ministry explained at the time that “the leading company of the joint venture, India Power Corporation Ltd, is one of India’s largest power companies, with 100 years of experience, with an installed capacity of 1500 MW, including thermal power generation capacity, wind and solar power and owned by the Kanoria Foundation Group, an Indian economic conglomerate with an asset portfolio worth 15 billion dollars, ensuring the credibility needed to fulfill this project. ”
However, from the moment the winner was announced, no further information has been disclosed on the process. While the ministry did sign a contract with the joint venture, more than a year later, the implementation of the project has yet to begin.
