Albania picks group led by IPCL for solar plant

Albania’s government picked a group led by India Power Corporation Limited (IPCL) to build the Adriatic country’s first solar power station worth 70 million Euros ($ 79.34 million) with a capacity of 100 MW, the Energy Ministry said on Saturday.

The offer by India Power, Mining Resources FZE based in the United Arab Emirates and the Hong Kong- based Midami Ltd. was the one out of three with the best combination of “technical and financial credibility, price and additional capacity”, it added.

“This project will be an important step in diversifying energy resources in Albania and lead the way in turning Albania into a centre of solar power in the Balkans,” said the ministry.

The Socialist government of Prime Minister Edi Rama wants to install 120 MW of solar and 70 MW of wind power capacity by 2020, since more than 90% of Albania’s power is produced from rivers and a newly built power plant, beset by a cooling problem, does not work.

Once the solar plant has been built in 18 months, it will sell power to the local distributor at 59.9 Euros per MW for 15 years out of its 50 first MW. Energy from the other 50 MW will be sold at market prices.