The Country Programme of Albania under the Global

Solar Water Heating Market Transformation and

Strengthening Initiative

Global Inception
Workshop

25 26 February, 2010

Tunisia
 Outline of presentation

Key characteristics of the current SWH market in the

country
Summary of other past, ongoing and/or planned
projects;
Key remaining barriers to accelerating the SWH
uptake in the country;
How GEF funded project is going to address the
identified barriers
Key areas of support expected from the global KM
component; Recommendations for its further
development;
The national project website-what materials can be
made available through the national websites to
support the global KM component
Key characteristics of the current SWH market

Solar energy potential in Albania

Total installed capacity/annual
sale/installed capacity per population
Supply side (domestic/imported/who
is selling and installing)
Current status and eventual future
plans of the Government to promote
SWH
 SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIAL IN ALBANIA
Most areas of the Albania
benefits more than 2,200 hours
of sunshine per year, while the
average for the whole country is
about 2,400 hours of sunshine
per year.
The Western part of Albania
receives more than 2,500 hours
of sunshine per year, while in
Fieri 2,850 hours of sunshine
per year has been recorded.
Average daily solar radiation
for South of Albania is assessed
at the level of 4.5 kWh/m2 per
day.
 SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIAL IN ALBANIA

kWh/m2 per day

4.8
5 4.5 4.6

4 4.1
4
3.4
3
3 2.5

0
The Netherlands Denmark Germany France North of South of Spain Greece
Italy Albania

Average Daily Solar Radiation for some European Countries and

Albania (kWh/m2 per day)
 Total installed capacity/annual sale/installed
capacity per population

In Albania, in the year 2000 and 2005, there were installed respectively 0.3
and 2.0 m2/1000 inhabitants, while the forecasted figures for 2010 and 2015
are respectively 6.5 and 16.0 m2/1000 inhabitants.
Supply side (domestic/imported/who is selling and
installing)
There are 6 domestic companies producing SWH, from which the
following are the main ones:

EUROPA A.P. - Durres

This company is established in 2002 and is producing by using a
Greek technology and is selling and installing solar water heating
systems since 2002/2003.

TERMO TIRANA sh.p.k. - Tirana

This company is established in 2004 and is producing by using a
Turkish technology and is selling and installing solar water heating
systems since 2004/2005.

Alba SOLAR sh.p.k. - Tirana

This company is established in 1997 and is producing by using a
Greek technology and is selling and installing solar water heating
systems since 1997.
Government policies and programs to support RES
and solar energy
The existing legal framework provide following
incentives to promote directly and indirectly RES
projects.

Investment Support: Law No.8987, dated 24.12.2002,

On the creation of favorable conditions for the
construction of new sources of the power generation,
exempts imported power generation equipments from
import duties and other corresponding taxes;

Operating Support: Operating support is given only for

Small HPPs with installed capacity less than 15 MW.
The Investor can make a PPA, if they wish, with the
Public Supplier, up to 15 years, with yearly regulated
feedin tariff, approved by ERE.
Government policies and programs to support Solar
Energy
A primary objective of the National Energy Strategy (NES) is to
improve Albanias energy security position. On the demand-side, the
NES proposes a number of measures to reduce the growth rate of
energy consumption, including promotion of solar water heating
systems for domestic hot water preparation.

Based on the Study presented by ERE in August 2009, On

electricity consumption by households, in the urban areas, 100 % of
water heating in household sector is done by standardized electric
heaters. In the rural area this technology covers about 60 %.

A new draft law on RES is prepared: it sets mandatory national

targets for the overall share of energy from RES sources and lays
down rules relating to guarantees of origin, streamlining licensing
and permitting procedures for obtaining, connection and access to
the electricity grid of power generators using RES.
Government policies and programs to support Solar
Energy
As a part of the Albanian Policy to promote SWH systems, Albanian
Government through MoETE and MoEFWA has decided to support the
country programme of Albania, as part of the GEF/UNDP/UNEP/ICA Global
Initiative on SWH Market Transformation and Strengthening.

Through this project Albania aims to accelerate the market development of

solar water heating with an objective to facilitate the installation of 75,000 m2
of new installed collector area over the duration of the project.

The (MoETE) will co-finance this Project by at least 100,000 euros per\year
over the duration of the project and with an in-kind contribution of 30,000
euros to cover the costs of the Ministrys staff getting involved with the
implementation of projects activities and other logistic support;

Similarly, MoEFWA will co-finance this Project by at least 150,000 euros

over the duration of the project.
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS FOR SOLAR WATER HEATERS

The new draft law on RES includes specific

provisions for promotion of SWH and recommend the
Government to prepare the secondary legislation for the
reimbursement of custom duties paid for:
imported row materials used for production and/or
assembling SWH and;
imported solar water heaters, with a storage capacity up to
500 liters.

Moreover, according to this draft law a Renewable

Energy Fund should be established which can be used
for promotion of SWH either by financing the producers
of solar water heaters or final users of these systems.
Summary of other past, ongoing and/or planned
projects
ADA funded ALBASUN project (2005 2008)
Market Analysis: findings to be used as a basis for
further market analysis;
Training on solar thermal systems and their different
applications:
four technical training seminars and three courses for
political decisions makers & architects;
Training manuals were prepared and given to participants.
Technical improvement, demonstration and quality
assurance of solar thermal systems:
Know-how transfer missions;
7 demonstration systems with a total collector area of 37 m2
were installed;
Awareness and Public Relation activities:
Promotional materials, articles in newspapers and three
leaflets with 3000 copies each printed in Albanian language.
 Summary of other past projects
ADA funded ALBASUN project and GEF/UNDP-
PDF-B project on SWH (2008)
Foundation of an Albanian Solar Test Centre;
Test facility built by SWT enables performance
testing of solar collectors according to the
steady state and the quasi-dynamic
performance test method;
Proposal for the labeling scheme was
elaborated and presented;
One representative of the test centre is trained
for;
Testing Centre not yet operational.
Summary of other ongoing and/or planned projects

Swiss assistance in line with the GEF

project on SWH targeted at:
Capacity building in SWH testing;
Continued technical training and technical
support to local manufacturers and
importers to improve their quality of
products (including installations);
Set of SWH standards and an associated
voluntary certification and labeling system
that suits Albanian conditions.
Summary of other ongoing and/or planned projects

UNEP managed project funded by the Italian

Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea, to
be used for the implementation of a financing
mechanism in line with the Albanian
Programme for SWH, part of the Global
Initiative.
How GEF funded project is going to address the
identified barriers
Barrier: Lack of institutional, legal and regulatory framework

GEF Project-target for year1:

support for required stakeholder consultations;
analysing the impact and, as needed, supporting the
drafting of required new regulations to effectively
implement, among others, the SWH specific chapters
of the new renewable energy law that is currently
being developed;
continuing the analysis and sharing the international
experiences of lessons learnt from implementing SWH
policy measures elsewhere.
How GEF funded project is going to address the
identified barriers
Barrier: Not enough awareness and capacity of the targeted
end users and building professionals

GEF Project-target for year1:

The design and financing agreements) for the public
awareness raising campaigns concluded.
A group of architects and building engineers engaged
to co-operate with the project in advancing the
integration of SWH into new buildings and those going
through major renovation (incl. possible new, innovative
solutions);
Finalized agreements and learning material for specific
SWH related courses with selected educational
institutes
How GEF funded project is going to address the
identified barriers
Barrier: Lack of attractive financing mechanisms and new
business models

GEF Project-target for year1:

The agreed financial support mechanism with
contributions from the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of
Environment and the Government of Italy operational
Requireed agreements for co-operation with other
private financing entities concluded
As applicable, introducing possible new business
models such as solar energy service companies, utility
driven models etc.
How GEF funded project is going to address the
identified barriers
Barrier: Lack of certification and quality control; need for the
supply side strengthening

GEF Project-target for year1:

Recommended testing standards formally adopted by
AIS to provide a basis for uniform testing of the
performance of SWH components and systems
Recommendations and finalized design for labelling of
SWH components and systems;
The training of installers organized and the procedures
for their certification finalized and adopted
Presenting the adopted labelling and certification
scheme(s) as a prerequisite for benefitting from any
public financial support scheme or procurement call
How GEF funded project is going to address the
identified barriers
Barrier: Need for institutionalization of the provided support
and documentation of the results
GEF Project-target for year1:
The reporting framework and the initial data collection
and processing for the market monitoring mechanism
finalized (presenting the latest market information)
Local SWH industry association established
The observations and lessons learnt from the first year
implementation documented
 Key areas of support expected from the global
KM component
Review of the international experiences and best practices as
they relate to different subcomponents of the project;
Examples of the exact content of regulations adopted in other
countries;
Examples of testing and certification/labeling schemes
adopted in other countries;
Training modules already developed in the context of other
projects for the training of installers;
Examples for the charter of establishing a national SWH
association;
Example of CDM PIN for a similar type of CDM project in
other countries;
Interlinkage with the Project Website;
 The national project website
The national project website is to be established
soon as part of the UNDP Climate Change
Programme website;
Expected structure:
General presentation of the project;
All reports, training materials and
presentations done in the frame of the
project;
Other materials produced by previous
projects related to SWH, like e.x. ADA
project (upon their permission and due
recognition);
Links to external sources of information;
Links to the sites of the local SWH industry
and other key stakeholders
Thank You!