Prishtina, 12.05.2023 – The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator, Samantha Power, announced today the first auction for the solar energy park with a capacity of 100 MW.

Kosovo has prioritized the development of solar and wind resources under the Energy Strategy 2022-2031, with the construction of a 100 MW solar PV plant being devised among numerous priorities foreseen in the Energy Strategy, and this auction is an opportunity to invest in a bright energy future.

Prime Minister Kurti expressed his gratitude to USAID and their Kosovo team for the invaluable contribution to the development of our energy sector and the strong support towards the energy transition.

“The path we are aiming at is that of independence from the fossil materials of the autocratic states befitting from Europe’s energy dependence. The increasing threats of climate change make the energy transition even more urgent”, said Prime Minister Kurti.

We are making this journey and we will make it with our friend, reliable partner, powerful ally, the United States of America, which has already proven itself both in terms of our overall development and in terms of building our democracy, he said.

The Prime Minister noted that renewable energy auctions are proving to be an increasingly preferred mechanism for ambitious governments to combat climate change and achieve energy security, as they allow us to attract large-scale competitive energy, and at the same time ensure the most affordable prices for our citizens.

On the other hand, Minister Rizvanolli said that the auction that we are announcing today is important beyond the €75 million investment, it will add 100 new MW to our energy system and marks the starting point of a new era for sustainable development in our country.

“Renewable energy sources are necessary today to guarantee sufficient energy at affordable prices without harming the planet’s health for us and the generations to come”, she said.

She further pointed out that this result comes owing to the steady cooperation of the Government of Kosovo with one of our key development partners, USAID, whose contribution is truly irreplaceable for our energy sector.

Finally, Minister Rizvanolli emphasized that she is more than aware that we have a lot of work to do to bring our vision to life, and with the dedication we have already demonstrated, with the projects we have launched, and with the excellent partners we have alongside, such as USAID, we do not find these tasks difficult, but we find them rather as opportunities to improve the lives of our citizens, the competitiveness of our economy and social equality and objectives to which we have committed ourselves as the Government.

On the other hand, Samantha Power stressed that Kosovo has a bright future in the energy sector, as it has an energy of the future and there will be no more power outages, and the technology entrepreneurs will have no major concerns regarding the lack of energy.

Power said that she has realized the promise from the country’s leaders that they will make the energy transfer and expressed the belief that this auction will be a model for other countries to work on similar drives, as Kosovo does, which started by setting clear, ambitious and achievable goals.

She added that they expect this auction to be the first of many others and will help citizens have cheaper, more reliable and cleaner energy.