Prishtina, March 20, 2018 – The Ministry of Economic Development, with the support of the USAID’s “Repower Kosovo” project, opened the Third High Energy Forum on “Energy Infrastructure Investments”.

Security of energy supply through the “Kosova e Re” Power Plant and other investments, rehabilitation possibilities of Power Plant “Kosovo B”, building human capacities in the energy sector, and further promotion of the use clean energy, were all discussed in this forum.

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, speaking on the role of the Kosovo Government, said that much work has been done in 2017 to address the challenges in the energy sector.  “I think that three months ago today we signed-off the energy development, with the signing of the agreement on the new Kosova e Re Power Plant. New technology also enables a better environment”.

The head of the executive emphasized that the Kosova e Re Power Plant, which will secure replacement capacities for the Kosovo A Power Plant, was concluded in 2017 and its construction will also end the insecurity of power supply in the country.

The Minister of Economic Development, Valdrin Lluka, confirmed that the new “Kosova e Re” Power Plant will ultimately allow for the decommissioning of the old power plant “Kosovo A” and will offer to the next generation a safe and sustainable supply of energy , through modern clean coal technology.

“The Energy Strategy has a comprehensive approach to it. It also reflects the need to rehabilitate the “Kosovo B” Power Plant, making it fully in line with European emission and environmental standards. Thus, at the end of this process, it will be a new power plant. The government will make the final decision on the financing strategy this year,” said Minister Lluka.

He stated that the Government of Kosovo is also paying attention to issues related to energy efficiency, as well as those related to renewable energy sources.

The, US Ambassador to Kosovo, Greg Delawie, stated that 2017 was a crucial and significant year for Kosovo. According to him, it is very important that the “Kosova e Re” Power Plant project proceeds further towards financial closure. However, he reiterated that there is still much work to be done: “Kosovo have own control of its energy borders in Kosovo and not allow interference from outside. US will continue to be your partner as we have been, thus far”, he said.

The German Ambassador, Christian Heldt, stressed the importance of integration into the regional energy market and the importance that this sector has in economic development. “The objective of German energy support in Kosovo is environment protection and economic development. We focused on the transmission network, and with KOSTT we committed 83 million EUR and are trying to further enhance the network,” said Heldt.

It was a general conclusion that more efforts are needed in 2018 to identify and promote more new projects, to achieve more than 300 MW of new power generation from renewable sources by 2026.

Kosovo still relies, almost entirely, on solid fossil fuels for generating electricity, while renewable energy sources make up an increasing share of power generation capacities.

The two main lignite-combustion power plants, i.e “Kosovo A” and “Kosovo B”, account for the largest share of electricity generated in Kosovo, while the rest of the electricity generation is mainly provided by small hydro power plants.

The Third High Level Energy Forum, “Energy Infrastructure Investments”, was assessed by everyone as a good opportunity for relevant institutions to discuss the challenges the sector faces in implementing the Government Strategy for Energy, but also to debate on current issues of importance to the electricity sector.

As part of this forum, experts from the “Repower Kosovo” Project presented the key issues that key stakeholders in the electricity sector will face in the near future, highlighting the current USAID support areas. The Energy Regulatory Office also presented its role in the approval and monitoring capital investments.

In addition, its work on the maintenance of operational units, rehabilitation of power plant “Kosovo B”, unbundling, and the Development Plan for the new mine was also presented by Kosovo Energy Corporation, KEK.

Two focus groups with experts were also part of the forum, the former discussing on investments in infrastructure related to conventional energy, and the latter focused on investments in renewable energy sources.