March 6 (SeeNews) - Albania’s energy minister Belinda Balluku said on Wednesday that the mothballed thermal power plant (TPP) in the southern city of Vlora is planned to have a capacity of 350 MW under a project for its conversion to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) led by US-based Excelerate Energy.
“The TPP in Vlora is being developed in three modules: a first one of 100 MW, a second of 150 MW and a third of 100 MW,” Balluku said in a video posted on social media.
The fuel-oil fired TPP’s original capacity was set at 97.2 MW, but the plant could never be put to use due to incorrect project design, Balluku added.
“The cooling system has been designed and built wrong. The Vlora TPP hasn’t worked for a day, whereas the Albanian government has had to repay a loan for its construction,” Balluku said.
The construction of the Vlora TPP was completed in 2011 under a $130 million (119 million euro) budget, with financing provided by the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank, local media has reported.
In 2021, the Albanian government signed a memorandum of understanding with Excelerate Energy and US-based oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil LNG Market Development Inc for the development of an LNG import terminal in the port of Vlora, refurbishment of the power plant to run on LNG, and establishing a network for LNG distribution to Albania and the wider Balkans region.
Last week, Albania's prime minister Edi Rama said that a feasibility study for a gas transmission pipeline that would connect the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) with the Vlora TPP is nearing completion. TAP transports natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe through northern Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea to reach southern Italy.
($ = 0.920 euro)