TIRANA – Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama has said that the construction of Skavica hydro power plant (HPP) will begin in 2021.
The government has launched the formal procedures for the launch of construction works, ATA news agency quoted Rama as saying while presenting the project earlier this week.
“Our government will build with 100% state funding this strategic work for energy independence and transformation of Albania into a key factor in the energy sector of the region,” Rama said.
Rama said last month that the government will finance the project estimated to cost about 350 million euro ($396.3 million). The HPP is to be built on the Drin River, in the northern part of the country.
The government failed to award a concession contract for the project after Turkish suitors Suzer and Nurol Holding withdrew five years ago.
In early 2019, Albanian power corporation KESH launched a 21-month feasibility study for the construction of Skavica HPP.
Albania produces over 90% of its electricity at HPPs. Most of it is generated at three power plants along the Drin River, and the so-called cascade of Drin started to be built when Albania had friendly ties with China in 1960-1978. /argumentum.al
