EVN, Verbund launch first section of 200 mln euro HPP in Albania

The whole project, worth some 200 million euro ($261 million), consists of two sections - Ashta I and Ashta II, with a total capacity of 53 megawatts, EVN said in a press release.

The hydropower plant (HPP) on the Drin river, in northern Albania, will generate 240 million kilowatthours of electricity annually.

Its construction began in March 2010.

At the end of the 35-year concession, the HPP will be handed over to Albania. The entire electricity generated by Ashta HPP will be supplied to the state-owned Albanian utility company Korporata Elektroenergjetike Shqiptare (KESH) for a period of 15 years.

($=0.7654 euro)