ALBANIA: Thermal Plant Threatens Tourism

By Claudia Ciobanu Reprint | | Print |

Claudia Ciobanu

VLORA, Albania, Jul 12 2007 (IPS) - The building of a thermal power plant in Vlora could reduce Albania’s electricity deficit, but it would also damage one of the country’s most beautiful tourist destinations. The local population is fighting to have the factory built elsewhere.

The 3.2 million inhabitants of Albania have gotten used to daily power cuts. At the moment, the country can only meet half its electricity needs. Roughly 90 percent of these are covered by hydropower, and this generation is dependent on weather conditions.

Power consumption has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Formerly a state socialist country, Albania has established a democratic system and is moving to liberalise the economy.

In order to increase domestic power production, the Albanian Power Corporation (KESH) – in cooperation with the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) – plans to construct an oil-fuelled thermal power plant in Vlora, about 100km south of Tirana.

Situated off the Adriatic coast in south-western Albania, Vlora is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Beautiful beaches and lagoons, as well as ancient and medieval monuments make it an appealing travel destination. Vlora is also famous for its biodiversity and its wine, olive oil and fish.

“The Vlora power plant will contribute to an increase in Albania’s electricity production, diversify domestic generation and reduce excessive dependence on electricity imports,” says Iftikhar Khalil, World Bank manager for the project.

The plant is expected to have a production capacity of 97 megawatts. The construction costs are estimated around 110 million euro. To cover the expenses, KESH will take a 40 million euro loan from ERBD. The World Bank and the EIB will also cover a part of the expenses – as present plans go.

Under the project, the thermal plant will run on fuel brought through the oil and gas terminal La Petrolifera Italo-Rumena and the projected Albanian Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corporation (AMBO) pipeline.

The 870 km Burgas-Vlora oil duct is still in the planning stage. When completed, it would carry around 35 million tonnes of crude oil yearly, brought from Russia and the Caspian Sea.

While the international financial institutions and the Albanian authorities speak of the benefits of the thermal plant, the inhabitants of Vlora have been protesting for the past three years against the plant.

“Despite the government’s assurances that the power plant should provide a remedy to the increasingly acute energy situation in Albania, there are indications that the fulfilment of Albania’s energy demand features only as secondary to the export of electricity to the European energy market, particularly the Italian market,” Aleksander Mita, representative of the Alliance for the Protection of Vlora Gulf said in a report prepared for the CEE Bankwatch Network, an independent group monitoring loans in the region.

As a condition for the granting of loans by the international financial institutions, Italian electricity company ENEL is assisting KESH to manage Albania’s power production and distribution system.

Still, the main concern of the inhabitants of Vlora is not where the energy will go; it is the chosen location of the plant. “Albania needs a lot of energy, and we are not opposed even to oil-produced energy, but we are opposed to the site – the beach resort and protected area chosen,” Aleksander Mita told IPS.

The plant would be part of an industrial park to be created in the region. The industrial park is projected to cover a 560 hectare area, close to several protected lagoons. Given that the entire city area of Vlora is 1120 hectares, and that the industrial zone will be located 1.5 km from the centre within a residential area, town people are worried about the negative impact on social life and on the tourism potential.

According to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) done at the request of the World Bank, the building of a thermal plant in Vlora will entail a series of negative consequences: polluting emissions in the air (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and trace metals), oil spills, noise, water intakes and temperature changes that will alter the ecosystem of the lagoon waters.

The World Bank insists that measures will be taken to limit the damage, and to adhere to European Union level environmental standards. But in spite of efforts by the international financial institutions to reassure them, the inhabitants of Vlora remain suspicious about the plant.

Local NGOs have been organising numerous public protests. They have also appealed to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee, whose provisional report in March 2007 declared the Albanian government non-compliant with several articles of the Aarhus Convention (on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters).

The NGOs have also been complaining to the World Bank, ERDB and EIB, and have filed criminal charges against the minister for energy and transport for abusing the legislation on protected areas.

A World Bank inspection panel visited Vlora Jun. 26-27 to evaluate the risks associated with the building of the thermal plant there. The executive board of the Bank is expected to take a final decision within a month whether it will keep up with its plans to have the thermal plant built in Vlora.