India Power wins Albania’s large-scale solar tender

The Indian company will build a 100 MW solar park in the Akërni salt flats, near Vlorë. A 50 MW section of the plant will sell power to the local distributor at €59.9 per MWh over a 15-year period, while the remaining portion will sell electricity at market prices.

November 12, 2018 Paul Zubrinich

Six bids were originally submitted for the tender, while three developers were shortlisted for its final phase.

Image: flickr, Michael Button

From pv magazine Global

Albania’s Ministry of Energy and Industry (MEI) has awarded a contract to build the large-scale PV project it tendered in August to Indian energy company India Power Corporation Limited (IPCL).

In its announcement, the ministry said that the solar park, originally set to be 50 MW, will now have a total capacity of 100 MW. It added that a 50 MW section of the project will be awarded a 15-year tariff of €59.9 per MWh, while the remaining 50 MW will sell power to the local retail electricity market.

The €70 million project is set to be finalized within 18 months, and will be located at the Akërni salt flats, near the Vlora river on the southeastern Adriatic.

According to local newspaper Monitor, six bids were originally submitted for the tender, while three developers were shortlisted for its final phase: India Power Corporation Limited (IPCL), UAE-based Mining Resources FZE, and Hong Kong-based Midami Limited.

The Albanian government said the tender was able to deliver a final price that is lower than those seen in tenders recently held in Greece and Turkey.

The Albanian government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) opened an invitation for expressions of interest for the implementation of the auction in January and Albania’s Minister of Energy and Industry, Damian Gjiknuri, and EBRD head in Albania Matteo Colangeli, signed a memorandum of understanding for the launch of the auction in May last year.

By Emiliano Bellini

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