Albanian hydropower dam is now linked with 5.1 MW of solar

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State-owned Albanian utility Korporata Elektroenergjetike Shqiptare (KESH) has completed construction on a 5.1 MW ground-mounted PV facility at the Qyrsaq dam in Vaun e Dejës, in Shkodër County, northwestern Albania.

The solar park is expected to generate 7,000 MWh per year and operate in combination with the hydropower plant. “It was located in a part of the dam that does not affect the operations of the hydropower plant,” Albania's Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy said in a statement.

“Vau i Dejës will be turned into an integrated energy park for the production of green resources,” said minister Belinda Balluku, noting that the dam may also host floating PV arrays and wind farms in the future.

KESH is currently developing a 12.9 MW floating PV plant at a reservoir on the Drin River near Vau i Dejës. The €13.9 million plant has been planned since December 2018 and would be the largest floating project in the Western Balkans. The generated power is planned to be sold on the local spot market

The utility runs three hydropower plants with a combined generation capacity of 1.3 GW at the Drin River Cascade and provides around 80% of the nation’s generation capacity.

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