Kosovo planning auction scheme for solar and wind capacity

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is seeking consultants to help the Kosovan government define an auction mechanism to secure large scale renewable energy deployment.

The lender said it assigned the task of developing the scheme to the Ministry of Economic Development in July. Minister Valdrin Lluka had announced an intent to use auction procurement for renewables in November 2017.

The EBRD said Kosovo has just 102.4 MW of renewable energy capacity: 70 MW of small hydro and a 32.4 MW wind farm in the east of the country. A 105 MW wind farm is being developed in North Kosovo, with commercial operation scheduled for 2021.

Kosovo recently raised its renewable energy target to an additional 400 MW of capacity by 2026. That would be enough to meet a quarter of its power demand and reduce dependence on ageing coal power plants. The previous plan for renewables development, put in place in the summer of 2016, stipulated the addition of just 10 MW of solar while targeting around 250 MW of overall clean energy capacity.

Most of Kosovo’s electricity is supplied as imports and from two lignite-fired thermal power plants, the 40-year-old Kosovo A Power Station (with a 345 MW generation capacity) near Pristina, and the upgraded, 27-year-old Kosovo B Power Station (540 MW) in Obilić.

According to the latest statistics published by the International Renewable Energy Agency, Kosovo had only 7 MW of installed solar capacity at the end of last year.