Additional Financing for Dam Safety Project Loan Agreement Signed Today
TIRANA, February 17, 2012— The Government of Albania and the World Bank today signed the agreement for the additional financing loan of Energy Community of South East Europe APL Program – APL 5 for Albania Dam Safety Project, totaling US$21.6 million. The agreement was signed on behalf of the Republic of Albania by Minister of Finance Ridvan Bode, on behalf of Albanian Energy Corporation (KESH) by its Director Engjell Zeqo and on behalf of the World Bank by Country Manager Kseniya Lvovsky. The ceremony was held at the Ministry of Finance in the presence of high government officials as well as members of the team who have prepared the project, which was approved on December 20, 2011, by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors.
The additional financing will complement the original IDA credit of US$35.3 million to support the Government in safeguarding major hydroelectric plants on the Drin River cascade. It will also help improve the operational efficiency and enhance the stability of power supply for the regional electricity market.
The additional loan will help finance the completion of two main activities:
- Rehabilitation of the spillways in three dams of the Drin River cascade (Fierza, Komai and Vau i Dejes hydropower plants); and
- Rehabilitation of the Komani hydropower plant through refurbishment of electro-mechanical equipment and replacement of existing control, protection, and monitoring systems.
“This additional financing would enable the successful implementation of the original project, thus contributing to safeguarding the major hydroelectric power plants in Albania and helping prevent a possible catastrophe from a dam failure,” said Kseniya Lvovsky, Country Manager for the World Bank Office in Albania.
The Energy Community of South East Europe APL Program – the APL 5 for Albania Dam Safety Project – is part of a larger Dam Safety program financed in parallel by other international financial institutions (IFIs) such as SECO-Switzerland, KfW Germany, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Government of Albania.
