Albania’s Project Blue has ordered a 130 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) from Sungrow for the first phase of a subsidy-free solar development, creating an early test of whether merchant solar-plus-storage projects can achieve commercial viability at scale without government-backed revenue support.
The order includes 26 PowerTitan 2.0 battery systems and 13 transformer units for the project’s initial 185 MWp solar phase.
Developers Matrix Konstruksion and Blessed Investment Group are also planning a second phase featuring an additional 164 MWp of solar capacity and an 80 MW/180 MWh battery storage system. If both phases proceed as planned, Project Blue would reach a total of 349 MWp of solar generation and more than 300 MWh of storage capacity.
Financial details and commissioning dates for the battery equipment have not been disclosed.
The project’s significance lies primarily in its commercial structure. Albania is expanding its solar generation capacity but remains heavily dependent on hydropower, leaving electricity supply and prices exposed to changing hydrological conditions and imports during periods of limited water availability.
Battery storage could help address some of these challenges by shifting solar electricity generated during lower-priced daytime hours into higher-value evening periods. It could also support balancing services and reduce the amount of renewable electricity curtailed when available grid capacity is insufficient to accommodate generation.
Unlike projects supported by government-backed auctions, Project Blue is being developed without state subsidies. Its financial performance will therefore depend more directly on wholesale electricity prices, offtake arrangements and the ability of its battery systems to capture intraday price differences.
The economics will also depend on storage utilisation, operating costs, grid access and the availability of market opportunities throughout the year. These factors will be central to determining whether the project can deliver sustainable returns without guaranteed revenue support.
The Sungrow order represents an important equipment-supply milestone, but it does not in itself confirm financial close or the start of commercial operations.
Nevertheless, Project Blue illustrates how Albania’s renewable-energy market is beginning to move beyond conventional photovoltaic deployment towards integrated solar-plus-storage projects designed to capture greater value from electricity generation.
If the development reaches commercial operation on a merchant basis, it could provide an important reference point for assessing the bankability of unsubsidised solar and battery storage projects across Albania and the wider Western Balkans.
