Biopower Green Energy and Marseglia Group have been granted strategic investment status in Albania for two wind farm projects worth a total of 244m euros. The companies intend to install wind turbines with a combined capacity of 234 MW.
According to the Albanian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and the Energy Regulatory Agency, a 373.1 MW wind farm is currently under development in Albania. The country still does not have a single wind turbine installed.
The Albanian Development Agency decided last year to declare the 234 MW wind project a strategic investment. Developers with this status receive access to support programs and administrative assistance, especially in the case of land expropriation.
The developers of the project are Biopower Green Energy and Marseglia Group, and wind turbines will be installed in Lezi in the northwest of the country, near the Adriatic Sea.
The 244m-euro project consists of 39 turbines, according to earlier reports. Marseglia, based in Verona, Italy, launched the project in 2008.
Units BPGE1 (114 MW) and BPGE2 (120 MW) should be built on the ridges of two mountains, on a total area of 100 hectares. The first wind farm is planned to be set up near Shengjin at an altitude of 241 to 545 meters. The second wind farm is planned on a location along the coast at 200 to 350 meters above sea level.
The second largest planned project, 69.3 MW, owned by EU Green Energy, is to be built in the south of the country in Dropul.
The list also includes five projects with a capacity of 10 MW, as well as six projects of 3 MW.
The procedure for obtaining a permit for projects up to 3 MW is much simpler because they only require the signature of the Minister. According to the valid decision of the regulator, they would be entitled to a preferential tariff of 76 euros per MWh.
For next year, the government in Tirana is preparing an auction for wind with a quota of 100 MW, and it could be increased to 150 MW.
Source: balkangreenenergynews.com
