TIRANA, Nov. 5 – A new hydropower plant in the Bushtrice area of the Kukes district, northeastern Albania, providing power supply to 22,000 households, has been made fully operations. The Lapaj hydropower plant, worth Euro 15 million, is an investment by Italian Etea group. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony last weekend, Prime Minister Sali Berisha said six other hydropower plants with a total capacity of 50 MW will be built in the Bushtrica cascade by Italian and Albanian investors. The Prime Minister told HPP investors their costs will drop by 20 percent after the removal of VAT on imports of cement and steel for the construction of HPPs. According to Berisha some 70 hydropower plants have been built in the past few years while government has signed concession contract for 330 HPPs.
Possible water dispute with Kosovo
The use of waters flowing from Kosovo could cause a dispute between the two countries, Kosovo’s daily Koha Ditore warns. Referring to the inauguration of the Lapaj hydropower plant which is supplied with water flowing from Kosovo, the newspaper says six other concession contracts for HPPs in the Lapaj river and 13 HPP permits from another river flowing from Kosovo come at a time when Kosovo and Albania have not signed a deal on cross border waters. All three rivers supplying the new hydropower plants in the Kukes area were designed to feed the Kosovo’s Zhur hydropower plant. “The removal of the Zhur hydropower plant from the agenda of Kosovo officials has unblocked frozen HPP permits in Kukes while six new permits have been granted to an Italian company for HPP construction in the Caja Mouth with waters flowing in this area having their source in Kosovo, says the newspaper.
Last year, Kosovo media reported the proposed new hydropower plant in the village of Zhur in Kosovo near the Albanian border, which had earlier sparked debates over the damage it could cause to concessions granted by Albania downstream, has little chance of being implemented. Gezim Baxhaku, an advisor to Kosovo’s Minister for Economic Development said the power plant project is currently being reviewed and having its feasibility assessed. The limited time of using electricity produced from this hydropower plant and the high cost of electricity produced from it are the main two concerns. The 305 MW Kosovo project at Zhur would cost around 300 million Euros but is expected to have another 150 million Euros in secondary costs, including compensation for displaced people. With such high costs, experts say the investment might not be worth it. The two countries’ governments, which enjoy a close partnership, say there will be appropriate negotiations between experts before the project goes ahead.
