enso Albania

completed

The proposed project is an early stage equity investment in a holding company in Albania (the “Company”) to be established by Enso Hydro GmbH (“Enso” or the “Sponsor”), an Austrian company specializing in investments in small hydro projects with up to 15MW capacity (the “Project”). IFC’s investment will be an up to EUR 6 million equity investment for up to 20% of the share capital of the Company. One 8.9MW hydro power plant on the river Lengarica has already been identified and the concession is signed and a concession for a cascade of 5 small hydro projects with a total installed capacity of 29.8MW on the river Mati has been awarded and ready to be signed. 1 to 2 further small hydro projects will be acquired and developed in the future, however these are not identified yet.Note: Enso Hydro GmbH has a minimal staff as most of the services (including technical and environment) are being provided by Enso GmbH, which is different from Enso Hydro GmbH. Lengarica hydropower project (a 8.9MW run-of-the-river type hydropower plant) will be built at the lower part of the Lengarica river basin in Permet district, Gjirokaster prefecture. It will be situated in a hilly and mountainous terrain, in Banja’s Canyon zone at the elevation of 410m above sea level, about 7 km from Vjosa river. The project will consist of a regulator (“side intake” type, opening for ecological flow, about 13m height and 60m length), about 4 km tunnel (concrete lining, 2.4m width, 4m height), a forebay (concrete basin to collect the water coming from the tunnel), about 3.7 km penstock (6 river crossings), a power house (8.9MW), and about 6.5 km 35kV transmission line to Permet substation. Mati hydropower project is a cascade of five small hydropower plants with a total capacity of 29.8MW : 2 diversion hydropower plants (5.9MW and 12.3MW) in the upstream area and 3 run-of-the-river type hydropower plants (4.5MW, 3.85MW, and 3.2MW) in the downstream area of Mati river basin in the Mat region. This is still a concept stage without detailed design specifications.