TIRANA, Feb. 5 – Albania’s transmission system operator says it is mulling over moving some high voltage power lines from a medieval Illyrian settlement in Koman, northern Albania, as part of an interconnection power line linking Albania to Kosovo, but says no decision has been reached yet on the displacement of the pylons from the archeological site.
In a statement, the state-run energy operator says it is considering several options which are challenged by time, the terrain and extra financial costs.
“We would like to clarify that nothing has been decided yet on the deviation from the approved project as the decision-making also requires the approval of the lenders, consultants and the Albanian government,” said the transmission operator, OST.
The project which is being carried out by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Energoinvest is financed by Germany’s KfW development bank and is expected to finish by spring 2016. It is considered crucial for the creation of a common Albania-Kosovo energy market allowing the lignite-based Kosovo energy system and the Albanian hydro-dependant electricity system complement each other.
The Forum for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which had strongly criticized the project, hailed the proposal by the OST, saying that the displacement of the high voltage lines was essential to prevent irreplaceable damage to the Koman settlement.
“The deviation of the line proposed by OST has been accepted by archeologists of the French-Albanian mission working there as an optimal decision under the current circumstances of the project,” said the forum.
The Forum for Historic and Cultural Heritage, a non-governmental organization, had called on the Culture Ministry to review its decision which they say endangers one of Europe’s most important archeological sites that originates in the 6th through the 8th century A.D. around the area of Koman, northern Albania, and is considered to explain the transitioning from the Illyrian population to the Albanian one.
“The Illyrian civilization in Koman is in danger of extinction. The medieval settlement will be crossed by interconnection lines along the Drini valley. Four 50-metre high 400 kW pylons will be placed in the valley parallel to the archeological site hill,” says the forum which is made up of well known figures of public life.
Archaeologist Etleva Nallbani says the Illyrian Koman settlement has a surface of 80 hectares and has been under government protection since the 1970s under communism. The site has attracted attention from renowned international archaeologists and researchers since the mid 19th century including Ippen, Hahn, Nopscha etc. Houses, furnaces, and several churches have been discovered in the site.
Since seven years, the settlement has been involved under a long-term scientific programme financed by Albanian and French institutions.
