
Image credit: Verbund
The ground-breaking ceremony is the step marking the beginning of construction of the 48 MW hydropower plant in Ashta, Albania. The power plant will be built by Austrian Verbund. Once completed in 2012, the power plant will supply electricity to about 100,000 households in the area. Parallel to this, Verbund is opening offices in the capital Tirana.
Albania is a growing market for electricity. The country's experiencing demand growth, and needs to increase installed power generation from the current 1.5 GW, in order to decrease energy imports. The project itself will be developed using innovative hydro-matrix technology, for the first time used in a large scale project, according to Verbund. The costs are estimated at about EUR 160 million, with a concession period of 35 years, after which the Ashta hydropower plant will revert to the Republic of Albania.