Norway’s Statkraft says it will start building next October its first two Banj롡nd Moglic롨ydropower plants as part of the Devoll project, the biggest ever hydropower project in Albania
TIRANA, July 29 – Norway’s Statkraft, which is building Albania’s biggest ever hydro energy project, has ordered Euro 100 million in equipment for its Devoll hydropower plant project in southeastern Albania.
France-based Alstom says it has been awarded a contract worth around Euro 100 million by Norwegian giant Statkraft AS, Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy and the leading power company in Norway to supply six Francis turbine-generator units and auxiliaries to its subsidiary in Albania, Devoll Hydropower Sh.A (DHP), a project company in charge of the construction of new hydropower plants on the Devoll river, in southern Albania. The scope of the contract, which has been booked in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2013/2014, also includes two high voltage substations of 220 kV and 110 kV in addition to hydraulic steelworks such as gates, penstock, stoplogs and trash-racks. Most of the equipment will be manufactured in Alstom’s factories in Spain and Turkey. “We are proud to be awarded this contract, which will be the largest project we have undertaken so far with Statkraft. We are looking forward to starting the project with Statkraft and its associated partners,” said Alstom Country President in Norway, Eric Staurset.
Norway’s Statkraft says it will start building next October its first two hydropower plants as part of the Devoll project. Statkraft says it has decided to build the two hydropower plants Banj롡nd Moglic롷ith a combined capacity of 243 MW and an annual production of about 700 GWh. “The investment frame for the two first plants is estimated to EUR 535 million. The tendering process for the main contracts is in its final stage and main construction works are planned to start in October. The plants are expected to be completed in 2016 and 2018, respectively,” the company says in a statement.
The power plants are located on the Devoll river, about 70 km southeast of the capital Tirana.
Earlier this year, Statkraft acquired EVN’s 50 per cent share and is now 100 per cent owner of the company and the construction project.
The existing Banj롄am was initiated in the mid 1980s during the communist regime as part of the former Banj롨ydropower project. In the early 1990s the project was stopped and the project’s structures (cofferdam, headrace tunnel, inspection gallery, bottom outlet tower and tunnel) were left uncompleted. Devoll Hydropower, a Euro 950 million project, was set up as a 50/50 joint venture between EVN and Statkraft after the two companies won in 2009 a concession to build three hydropower plants on the Devoll River.
Albania relies on hydropower for about 90 percent of its electricity production. The Devoll hydropower project is currently the first large scale public-private-partnership investment in the country and one of the largest hydropower investments in the Balkans. With a total capacity of 243 MW, the Devoll river project will generate approximately 700 GWh of renewable, environmentally-friendly energy each year and increase the current electricity production in Albania by approximately 17 percent. It will supply more than 300,000 Albanian households.
Statkraft is Norway’s largest and the Nordic region’s third largest power producer. The company which is wholly owned by the Norwegian state has 3, 600 employees and is active in more than 20 countries.
Berisha hails Statkraft’s investments
Outgoing Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, has considered the purchase of the turbines by Norway’s Statkraft as a major achievement. “This development is another major testimony of the success of the Democratic Party in the attraction of foreign direct investment and our project ‘Albania a developed country,’ leader in renewable energy generation in the region and beyond,” said Berisha in a post on his Facebook profile. “This is another major step in the construction of the Devoll cascade, an investment of around 1 billion euros and the biggest ever made in Albania. The construction of the Devoll cascade began on May 13, 2013. Those who called it an electoral fraud must apologize. The project will directly and indirectly employ around 5,000 people in one of the country’s poorest areas. The end of this energy project will provide Albania with an additional 700 GWh of annual electricity generation.”
