Albania’s Council of Ministers has given the green light to two new solar parks.

The first is a 30 MW project to be located in the southwestern municipality of Fier that will be built by Tirana-based renewables company EZ-5 Energy.

According to Albanian government news agency ATA, the government has set a 36 month deadline for obtaining a construction permit and commissioning. The plant is then expected to operate for 49 years.

The second project is a 24 MW solar facility in the southeastern municipality of Kolonje, to be developed by Get Solar Solution, also based in Tirana. It is subject to the same timeframes as the first project.

Both projects are non-concessionary. The government has stipulated EZ-5 Energy must submit quarterly progress reports to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and the National Agency of Natural Resources, while it will require Get Solar Solution to provide the energy ministry with 2% of the plant’s annual electricity output free of charge, delivered either as energy or as a monetary equivalent paid into the state budget.

Albania hosted its first unsubsidized large-scale solar project last year. The 300 MW procurement exercise received 283.93 MW of project proposals at an average price of €0.0513 ($0.0557)/kWh.

Earlier this year, the government said it had received requests from four companies looking to develop four separate solar projects located across the country.

Albania’s cumulative solar capacity stood at 307 MW by the end of 2024, a 100 MW increase on figures covering up to the end of 2023, according to statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).