EVN, Statraft sign 950m euros Albania power deal
by Mimoza A on 14/01/09 at 6:23 pm
Austria’s EVN utility and Norway’s Statkraft will invest 950 million euros ($1.37 billion) to build three hydroelectric power stations in eastern Albania in what they said was currently Europe’s biggest power project.
“The unique size of the complexity of the Devoll hydropower project as the biggest ever investment in Albania, and currently the biggest Hydro Power Project in Europe, justified our enormous efforts,” EVN’s chief executive officer Burkhard Hofer said.
EVN won a build-operate-transfer concession to exploit the whole potential of the Devoll river valley in January and had since been negotiating a contract with Albania.
EVN said the power stations on the Devoll River in eastern Albania near Greece and Macedonia would have a capacity of 340 MW and generate around 1,000 GWh annually.
It withdrew from a tender to buy Albania’s DSO power distribution operator, but along with fellow Austrian utility Verbund is about to start building a 160 million euros hydropower plant on the northern Drini river, the fourth on the river but first hydropower plant in Albania in 30 years.
Albania has been suffering chronic power shortages since it toppled communism in 1990 and demand kept growing steadily. Prime Minister Sali Berisha has been wooing foreign investors in the energy sector to boost output. ($1=.6955 euros)
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