Maire Engineering declared the ultimate winner for Vlora’s Thermal Power Plant

TIRANA, Jan.19 – Last week, Albania’s state-owned power utility KESH announced that the decision about the thermal power plant in Vlore, the southern coastal town, was final. The winner is the previously announced Italian company Maire Engineering who will invest the sum of 92 million euro ($119.2 million) in order to build the facility. Maire competed with German Siemens, Spanish Iberdrola in consortium with General Electric, and Indian BHEL in an open international tender for the project called in 2004.
KESH spokeswoman Klodiana Gjinaj said that “The talks on the contract were finalized at the end of last year but its signing is pending endorsement by the three banks that would finance the project. The approval by the three donors is expected by the middle of February.” The fact was confirmed by Maire’s energy department head, Umberto Franzi, who told a news conference that they were waiting for the approval of the banks to start work. The donors are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank. The thermal plant which is expected to be complete in two years will have a capacity of 85-to-135 megawatt (MW) and combined-cycle that will use distillate oil. The facility is expected to start generating electricity 12 months after the start of construction works.The first thermal plant in Albania exists in the city of Fier. Vlore power plant will be the second of this kind in Albania. It will help the country reduce its reliance on hydro resources and alleviate chronic energy shortages. Albania’s daily electricity consumption currently reaches some 17 million kWh, of which it produces some 10 million kWh. The remainder is covered by imports. Albania is currently experiencing a sever energy crisis with power cuts reaching up to 12 hours in the main cities and 18 hours a day in rural areas.