The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a loan of 29 million euros to Albanian subsidiary of French renewables developer Voltalia for the project of the construction of 140 MW Karavasta solar power plant near Fier in southwestern Albania.
The statement from the bank said that the project’s total cost is estimated at 135 million euros and is co-financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania, Privredna Banka Zagreb and Voltalia’s own resources. 99 million euros is needed to implement the project, for which the EBRD is mobilizing significant and innovation innovative commercial debt participation.
The solar power plant will contribute to the diversification of electricity generation sources in Albania, which are currently mostly hydro-based. Nationally, the project will significantly increase the share of Albania’s solar energy generation, helping further to reduce the effects of climate change.
This will be Albania’s first large-scale solar power plant, as a result of the country’s first competitive solar power auction following the introduction of the EBRD Renewable Energy Auctions Program.
