Albania – North Macedonia Power Interconnection (I): Grid Section in Albania

Home , Albania, Albania (placename), North Macedonia

Project Financing

WBIF Grant WB6-ALB-ENE-03 € 850,000 WBIF Grant WB12-ALB-ENE-01 € 576,000 KFW Loan € 50,000,000 National contribution Own Contribution € 4,550,000 WBIF Grant WB-IG00-ALB-ENE-01 € 14,000,000 Total € 69,976,000 Total Grants € 15,426,000 Total Loans € 50,000,000

Project Description

Significant increases in annual power load and several new generation sources added to the Albanian grid have put a strain on existing transmission systems, leading to frequent interruptions in electricity supply to domestic and industrial consumers alike. The existing transmission systems would not be able to cope with the new power generation sources planned for development in southern Albania (e.g. hydropower plants on Devoll and new gas-powered electricity plants). In addition, due to its reliance on hydropower generation sources (90% of overall energy mix), Albania is highly dependent on annual precipitations and thus potentially vulnerable to climate change impacts.

This project is part of the European Commission’s initiative to establish an East-West electricity transmission corridor between Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and Italy. The corridor is essential in allowing for cross-border energy exchange, more efficient use of existing and planned power capacities, and better load flow balancing in the region.

In Albania, the investments comprise a 400 kV transmission system that will connect Fier to Elbasan and from there to the border with North Macedonia. In addition, a new substation (Elbasan 3) will be built while the substation in Fier will be upgraded to 400 kV level. These investments are supported by a €14.3 million EU grant under the Connectivity Agenda. The project is now at the detailed design stage, with tendering for works planned to commence in the last quarter of 2018.

Results and Benefits construction of the 130km 400 kV transmission line between Fier-Elbasan-Qafe-Thane (Albania/North Macedonia border) raising the capacity of regional transmission of electricity through the transmission line to 1000 MW avoiding 50,000 tCO2 of greenhouse gas emission through the reduction of technical losses raising the security and quality of supply through an augmented efficiency and reliability of the transmission system in Albania and the region

Countries: Albania Code: PRJ-ALB-ENE-004 Sector: Energy Monitor IFI: KFW Status: Implementation Beneficiary: Operatori Sistemit Transmetimit