Italian firm to build $1.3 billion biomass energy park

TIRANA, Feb 11 – Dow Jones reported earlier this week on the deal of the Marseglia Group with the Tirana government for a $1.3 billion euro project to build a biomass energy park in northern Albania.
It referred to Italian government sources and a U.S. Department of Agriculture attache report posted Tuesday on the Foreign Agricultural Services Web site.
The plan is to build a 140-megawatt liquid biomass energy plant and two 234-megawatt wind farms that will also provide an undersea power link between Italy and Albania and convertor substations in the Lezha district, 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of capital Tirana. While the contract was just signed this week, no date has yet been set for the construction to start. The electricity generated in Albania will be sold to the Italian market. Sources report that the plant is expected to help ease the country’s acute energy problems and provide power to the international market.
In December 2008 Albania signed two other major energy contracts worth $2.5 billion with Italian companies for the construction of a wind farm and a gas-powered electricity plant. Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi recently traveled to Albania to meet with his counterpart Sali Berisha and secure the deals for Italian companies.
Electricity generation in Albania is dominated by large hydroelectric facilities, contributing to over 95 percent of total electric capacity.
Biomass energy could be important in Albania’s future, consisting of the following four main resources: Urban wastes, agricultural residues, forest residues, and animal wastes.