Energy, agriculture and tourism. Chinese investments in Albania are increasing

From Google translator

10.09.2018

Co-operation between Albania and China has been developing in important sectors such as energy, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, and in recent years, while Chinese investments have been increasing by operating in the main cities of the country.

Speaker of the Parliament, Gramoz Ruçi, received today in the Assembly Presidency Nie Chenxi, Minister of Television and National Radio of the People's Republic of China and the accompanying delegation, who are on an official visit to Albania in the framework of cooperation with Radio-Television Albanian.

Parliament Speaker underlined that "today's cooperation between China and Albania builds on the strong friendship between our peoples".

At present, he said, there is a very good climate of bilateral cooperation, with a satisfactory level of political dialogue and exchange of high level visits.

According to him, "both countries intend to strengthen inter-state dialogue at all levels: governmental, parliamentary, non-governmental, academic, cultural and in all areas of mutual interest".

In this context, Ruçi stressed the importance of strengthening the parliamentary dimension and enhancing inter-parliamentary cooperation as a path to intensifying and expanding cooperation between the two countries.

ABAD organises ‘Pak-China Construction Conference’

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China is working with Pakistan in different areas such as roads, Gwadar port, railways, transportation, communication, energy, and others.

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In the meeting, the participants included the AKD group, Bakshi Builders, and Developers, Dune Group, Falaknaz Properties, Gohar Group of Companies, Index Builders and Developers, Javedan Corporation Ltd. Jeewa Properties, King’s Group, Kohistan Construction (Pvt) Ltd, Lucky One, Memon Group of Companies, Olympic Group, Pebbles (Pvt) Ltd, Saima Group, Samama Constructions Co, Unique Builders and Developers, and Vertex International.

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Albania: Energy sector sets targets by 2030
27. August 2018. /
The recent meeting of the Council of Ministers among other things saw the adoption of a new strategy for the energy sector by 2030. The drafting of which is the result of a process that has lasted for several years and has been in previous presented to the public on March 26, 2018.

The new strategic framework in ongoing based on two main pillars: the development of reforms to foster market liberalisation and regional integration, and huge investment on sustainable development driven by participation in the Energy Community initiative and in particular at international level by the Paris Agreement for climate change.

The 2018-2030 energy strategy comes after a period of dynamic changes for the economy as a whole and in particular for the energy sector. The sector is experiencing important structural reforms based on a new set of laws, normative and regulatory acts. Its approved open now the possibility of pursuing the country’s strategic objectives to allow full integration into the European energy infrastructure.

A framework that will serve as a basis for the development of the Integrated Energy and Climate Plan in 2018. All to build a package to address and adapt to the Albanian context, the five dimensions of the Energy Union Strategy, in accordance with the process of the negotiations that will be open shortly related to the preparation of accession negotiations process, leading to a higher level of energy security, sustainability, competitiveness, etc.

Source: energyworldmag

Albania’s power distribution network operator OSHEE plans to invest ALL 37.1 billion (around EUR 294.2 million) in the power supply facilities over the next five years.
According to the Albanian media, OSHEE’s investment plan has been sent to the Albanian energy regulator, ERE.

OSHEE’s representatives expect the investments to produce a financial effect of EUR 55 million annually thanks to the reduction of grid losses.

The company projects a decrease in power grid losses of 9.9% by 2021, while calculations show that a 10% reduction in losses saves EUR 50 million – EUR 55 million annually.

This will mean an investment return in between six and 6.5 years, according to Ceno Klosi, director of the economic department at OSHEE.

The company also plans investment in maintenance and the metering system to reduce technical and non-technical grid losses and to increase the security of supply. Investments in 2018 are projected to ALL 8.8 billion (some EUR 70 million), which is the highest annual amount under the five-year investment plan.

In 2019, OSHEE plans to invest ALL 7.7 billion (around EUR 61.2 million), in 2020 ALL 8.4 billion (EUR 66.8 million), in 2021 ALL 7.5 billion (EUR 59.7 million), and in the last year of the program, 2022, ALL 4.7 billion (EUR 37.4 million).

Power recovery project launched in 2014 in cooperation with World Bank

The Albanian government and the World Bank launched a power recovery project in 2014 with the objective of improving the reliability of power supply and the financial viability of the power sector. The goals included minimizing electricity losses, which were at 45% at the time. According to the World Bank data, the losses were at 26% in May 2018, while the target is 14% by June 30, 2019.

The target for 2018 is 24%.

In January, the World Bank published a report saying that OSHEE had not fulfilled its objective of reducing losses under to the power recovery project.

In reaction, OSHEE CEO Adrian Cela said that the company will ask the World Bank to review the target of OSHEE’s technical losses under the project, the company said on its website.

They have called it "Albanian Thailand" or "Caribbean of the Alps", but the Shala River could not escape the bad "hands". Illegal constructions,

"Albania has a natural miracle - a German tourist tells." I visited Theth, Koman, Shalen and Valbona and will return next year to visit the Era Curra in Tropoja. In Valbona, I noticed that the hydropower plant was at its end. Along the way, I learned that the hydropower plants will be built in Theth and Shala. Too bad ! Do not interfere in nature! Albania can win more with tourism than with those 2 or 3 hydro power plants. Love nature! "- says the German tourist.

In the meeting, the participants included the AKD group, Bakshi Builders, and Developers, Dune Group, Falaknaz Properties, Gohar Group of Companies, Index Builders and Developers, Javedan Corporation Ltd. Jeewa Properties, King’s Group, Kohistan Construction (Pvt) Ltd, Lucky One, Memon Group of Companies, Olympic Group, Pebbles (Pvt) Ltd, Saima Group, Samama Constructions Co, Unique Builders and Developers, and Vertex International.
From China, the participants included the Bank of China Karachi Branch, Beijing Lenocean Talent International Industry Corporation, BGP Pakistan, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, China Machinery Engineering Corporation, China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation Ltd, China National Electric Engineering Co Ltd, China Railway Construction Ltd, Hangzhou Jinjiang Group Sanitation Services and others.

The concern for the continuation of the construction of hydropower plants in the rivers of Albania has gathered in Shkodra representatives of environmental organizations, who expressed the need to improve the legislation on concessions of hydropower plants.

Where does all this come from the "Fusha" Ltd signature?

Every day more is proving that Rama's symbiotic connection with one of his trusted clients and oligarchs, the "Fusha" Ltd, includes hundreds of millions of euros in the middle.

The Albanian government has shown that its commitment to rewarding this firm is at the highest level with concessions and construction permits with extraordinary value.

The "Fusha" Ltd firm has received tenders from the Municipality of Tirana worth millions of euros. It is expected to get permission to build for the Teatro Tower project.

But the affair that draws more attention to the symbiotic connection Rama-Fusha is the Kalivaçi hydropower plant, a giant investment and a great asset to the Albanians.

With regard to this issue there are some questions that deserve attention and want answers:

What is the financial source of "Fusha" Ltd to make such an investment, where only as a financial guarantee should be closed in the bank hundreds of millions of euros? Where does this firm find all that money? Are there statements in financial institutions?

So far we have no transparency regarding this issue. Albanians should know and be informed of the financial balance of a company that gets millions of their money.

It is the total lack of information and the full confidentiality of this information that should be accessible to everyone.

Therefore, all citizens have the right to make a resume of all this relationship and to raise the big doubt: Are all this before Rama's secret deposits?

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While the European Union still thinks whether or not to accept Albania, China is returning to invest more.

A report published by the United Nations Trade and Development Conference (UNCTAD) estimates, in addition to the fact that there has recently been an increase of interest and involvement in some investment projects by China, there is an important infrastructure project that can give another pace to these investments .

"Foreign direct investments in Albania grew marginally (2 percent) in 2017 "> 2017 to $ 1.1 billion, the second highest level for the country, with energy and mines bearing the lion's share.

While both projects important energy as (gazjsellësi Trans Adriatic and Hydropower Devoll) came përfudnimit, foreign investors already established in the country began to expand prezenën in projects of renewable energy (including Austrian company in Ashta or Turks hydropower in the Poçemi hydropower plant).

Although the bulk of investment came from the developed countries of Europe in 2017 "> 2017 , Chinese firms also began to invest in the banking sector, aviation or tourism. The size of the investmentChinese can only grow as Pacific Construction of China starts work on the Blue Corridor (Autoritas de Adriatiko-Ionian), "the report said .

The same takes analyzes the value of the Investment Foreign Direct who have entered the country from 2012 until 2017 "> 2017 . According to the figures of 2016 and 2017 "> 2017 keep the historical record with respectively 1:10 billion and $ 1:11 billion .

The report also estimates that the amount invested by Albania from domestic investors to invest in other countries at least for 2017 "> 2017 has seen a marked decline in the reportby 2016. Concretely, two years ago, Albanian investments outside the territory in the form of FDI were $ 64 million, while in 2017 "> 2017 only $ 24 million, which is more or less the same as 2012 when they recorded USD 23 million .

Regarding the hydropower sector over the past year there have been several major races, starting with Pocem, Kalivaci and Shala, and a series of important projects up to 15 MW. Projects that by size reach the values ??of 100-dra million Euros. Like every week there are approvals for mini HEC constructions up to 2 MW with the simplified authorization procedure. But beyond the granting of permits, it has also advanced in practice, where just a few months ago became the largest privately owned HEC in the Fangu, with about 75 MW of Ayen Energy, which goes even for only a few HPPs Devoll Hydropower baths. Investment volumes that have made the overall capacity go from 600 to 698 MW installed in the previous year, and the private sector to come over 35.5% of production with a growth of about 7% from 2017.

Shala River Cascade, the ministry clarifies the concession procedure

In the framework of transparency for public opinion, the Ministry of Energy and Industry clarifies that in 2009, the Government had signed a contract for the construction of 6 hydropower plants in the Shala River. The total installed power for these HPPs was projected to reach 127,600 kW while the average power output would go up to 530,350,000 kWh.

During the audit that the Ministry of Energy and Industry made concession contracts in force, it resulted that some procedural aspects were violated in this case: the project was incomplete and in its contents a series of reports and documents were missing as the hydropower utilization scheme ; hydropower and hydrotechnical reports; environmental impact assessment reports and business plan reports. The concessionaire also did not fulfill the contract security obligation as stipulated by the legislation. For these reasons, the Ministry of Energy and Industry unilaterally decided to conclude the concession contract.

Given the hydropower potential of this catchment area, the Ministry of Energy and Industry, in the capacity of the Contracting Authority, decided to reopen the procedure for its use, already with the requested proposal. The announcement of the announcement of the procedure was made public in accordance with the requirements of the legislation and at the conclusion resulted in the participation in the contest of the temporary merger of the companies "Çinar-San Hafriyat Nakliyat Insaat Turizm Sanayi Ve Ticaret LTD.STI", "Shala Energy PLC" "Wall Properties LLC". After reviewing the documentation, the company was declared the winner of this competition.

In the Terms of Reference, the Contracting Authority has taken into consideration that in addition to the optimum utilization of the hydropower potential of this basin, it should also consider its minimal impact on the environment. In this context, the presence of protected areas in the North Alps and their avoidance of the project has been considered with great attention.

The new project foresees the reduction of the number of hydropower plants and the installed power compared to that of the previous project. Of the 6 projects envisaged in the initial revoked project, the project already has 3 hydro power plants, of which 2 with the derivate and 1 with the non-combustion dam. According to the new winning project, the total investment for the construction of hydropower plants on the Shala River is around 84.5m euros for installed power of 83.45 MW and average electricity output of 321.5 MWh / year. The projected deadline for construction of this project is 36 months.

The new project submitted by the winning bidder, according to the EIA presented, does not have any impact on the protected areas because it is in considerable discipline from them. Notwithstanding this, the Contracting Authority will be careful that during the negotiation of the concession contract with the winning bidder condition until its revocation, elimination or minimization within the environmental technical conditions of the concessionaire's interventions.

The social impact of the project is limited as there is no population displacement and is affected by a very small amount of agricultural land. This impact is expected to be positive in terms of employment, improvement of road infrastructure, transport, possibility of raising fish farms, ensuring sustainability of electricity supply.

In the project it is planned that with the implementation of rehabilitation plans and planning of rehabilitation, settling and afforestation works, the organization of construction work and techniques to be used for construction of pipeline works, pipeline tunnels and pipelines, roads passing fish and plant buildings will minimize negative impacts.

Rehabilitation works will affect the improvement of the environment as the degraded surfaces will be rehabilitated. The handling of solid materials arising from excavations during the construction phase of the works, construction of the offshore works and the derating channel is planned to be done in accordance with the technical rules and respecting the requirements for integrated waste management and Environmental Protection.

By signing the concession contract, the builder has the obligation to be provided with environmental permits according to the legislation in force provided by the relevant authorities, in which concrete obligations and penalties in the environmental aspect of the project will be determined.

Of the 3 companies of the sector were realized in these 6 months, 11.8 billion ALL of investments in generation, transmission and distribution, guaranteeing as beneficiaries 170,569 subscribers.

In the same period are about 300m euros contracted investments in the private sector of electricity generation, where it can mention some works such as HEC Kalivaçi; Shala, Shushica, Grabov and 20 MW of alternative energy sources.

Tirana - In just six months, around 300 million euros of investments have been used in the private sector for the production of electricity. The Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Damian Gjiknuri has informed that the investments mainly concern the construction of energy works such as hydroelectric plants: HEC in Kalivac, Shala, Shushica, Grabova, and another 20 MW of ... [1513 characters ]

He explained that there are other recently contracted projects like 83,450 kW Shala HPP in North Albania, with an electricity output of about 321,465,632 kWh. Referring to the investment value but to the installed power it seems to be one of the biggest hydropower plants in the country.

Infrastructure Minister Damian Gjiknuri explained why Albania has chosen to implement a 1 billion euro program in partnership with the private sector. Reporting to the Economy Committee, the minister said the deal with business is necessary, as Albania has exhausted the soft loans from international organizations.

Speaking about the budget and 2018, the minister said the drought risk continues to be a threat to the budget.

Regarding the concern after the end of the TAP pipeline and the Devoll cascade, Albania will lower its contribution to the economy, the minister says yesterday that other projects such as Kalivaci and Shala hydropower plant will be able to balance the situation.

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Minister Gjiknuri announces the public investment figure for this year ...
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hace 14 horas - Referring to the graphs that Eduart Zaloshja had brought to the studio, the minister admitted that the year 2017 has declined in terms of total investments. Asked what investments he made, he listed the following: Hidrocentrali kalivaçit ;; Shale Hydropower ;; Agreement with Shell ;; Hydro Power Plant in Grabova ;. While for the tecin i ...

In the same period are about 300m euros contracted investments in the private sector of electricity generation, where it can mention some works such as HEC Kalivaçi; Shala, Shushica, Grabov and 20 MW of alternative energy sources.