Albania launches first 100-150MW onshore wind tender

Albania has launched its first tender for utility-scale onshore wind farms. 

The Balkan state’s ministry for infrastructure and energy will look to award 100MW of capacity – and maybe as much as 150MW – according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The EBRD has been supporting the Albanian authorities in introducing competitive procurement processes for renewable energy projects.

Developers will compete for 15-year power purchase agreements that will then be converted to contracts for difference, when a functional day-ahead market is operational in Albania, according to the country’s energy ministry.

Individual wind projects of 10-75MW capacity may bid, with developers required to propose sites in a pre-qualification phase by mid-June 2022.

The successful applicants will then be required to submit more detailed proposals, before the successful bidders are announced in the first half of 2023.

The Albanian ministry for infrastructure and energy has yet to provide further details about the planned support structure for the tender.

Albania currently has no operational wind farms, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly, though a handful of small projects have been proposed.