The solar plant is comprised of four floating units of 0.5 MWp each, with a total installed capacity of 2 MWp. The floating units are anchored on the Banja reservoir, near the dam of the Banja hydropower plant.

The second phase which entails the installation of three more floating units will kick off soon.
The Minister said that “Statkraft company has introduced an innovation in Europe and even in the world, as floating photovoltaic panels have been anchored on the reservoir near the Banja hydropower plant basin, using the sunlight to produce energy.”

“Today I visited the Banja HPP, a hydropower plant that produces 72 megawatts of energy and is operated and built by Statkraft, a large Norwegian energy company. The project of floating solar panels I visited today is a pioneering one, the first in the world, which produce solar energy. So there are two projects that have been implemented at the same place, which ensures the production of hydro energy and solar energy by photovoltaic panels,” Balluku said.

The Minister stressed that “this is a groundbreaking project already completed in Albania that will continue with other units and will undoubtedly be replicated.”

Balluku said that the Banja HPP is one of the most important private investments in the country together with the Moglica HPP.

“A floating solar plant has been installed in the Banja HPP of Banja to produce clean and affordable energy from floating solar panels. It is a very good example of integrating photovoltaics with hydropower, as laid down in our strategy to produce as much renewable energy as possible,” said Balluku.

Balluku said that “it is already known that Albania is a champion in production of renewable energy, moreover here we have two different sources of renewable energy in the same space.”
/m.m/sm/