HPP concession procedure and environmental constrains in Albania brief remarks

Summary of environmental constrains of the current HPPs concessions in Albania.

Klodian Aliu Environmental expert Tirana, May 2016

Development of HPPs in Albania Albania has a central public online1 register of hydropower plants managed by the National Agency of Natural Resources (NANR) but the information is not complete and fully updated.

The published register refers 524 hydropower plants (HPPs); the figure indicates the number of production units and not the concession agreements that are about 173. The recent publication of the MIE indicates a figure of 506 HPPs in Albania (concessions). Meanwhile a specific survey study2 of May 2015 has indicated a figure of about 583 HPPs projects in Albania. Out of 583 about 436 HPPs are developed in the past 10 years (constructed, planned). About 280 HPPs have a potential installed power from 1-10 MW and are considered as small capacity plants. Nearly three quarters of the HPPs (314 projects) are in the planning stage of development despite the fact that more than half of them received concessions during 2009 and 2010. In august 2015, 36 projects were under construction and 76 projects have been put in operation in the past five years. The 278 MW Devolli hydropower project consisting of three HPPs currently under construction by Norwegian Statkraft is the largest hydro concession awarded so far in Albania.

Nearly a quarter of the projects (94) have been planned inside protected areas or with strong influence on these. The National Agency of Protected Areas (NAPA) is now under review process of 67 concessions within the protected areas, out of these 21 HPPs are already constructed, 44 are on the planning or construction phase and 2 have been existing before 92.

The major parts of the HPPs occur within Shebenik and Jabllanica NP water tributaries.

Final remarks 1. Transparency and consultation The public information and transparency during the concession phase is very limited and delayed. The project idea shall be made public for consultation of the interested parties and 1 2

http://185.30.147.99/AKBNPortal/HE/Main.aspx Schwarz, U., 2015. Hydropower Projects in Protected Areas in the Balkan Region. RiverWatch & EuroNatur, 34 pp.

the public. The affected public becomes aware about the project only in EIA phase and this in very formal manner with limited participation. This is not in line with the national legislation and Aarhus Convention. Water and biodiversity related trans-boundary procedures especially for the shared water streams are not developed as required from respective Conventions.

Effective consultation and transparency in the concessions procedure is poor and almost nonexistent. The local government institutions such as municipalities are not involved in concession development and approval procedure. The Government as recently charged the Agency for the Concessions to establish the national concessions register but the register is not established yet3.

2. Environmental implications The HPPs projects are expected to have significant and irreversible environmental impacts leading in habitat and biodiversity loss. The law on integrated management of the water resources (IMWR) was adopted4 in 2012 but the institutional roles are fragmented, capacities and coordination is limited. The enforcement of EIA law5 from NEA for these projects is not ensured, almost all hydropower plants are approved from NEA and MoE only with a scoping report. The Government promised to revise the policy for hydropower concessions but so far nothing has been done to address the environmental implications of these projects. The law on IMWR stipulates the use of the rivers based on a basin management plan, out of 7 river basins only one plan has been prepared and two others are under preparation.

The application of the ecological criteria in project identification phase and enforcement of nature protection legislation from the Ministry of Environment (MoE) would save the biodiversity and habitats many of them of EU Community Interest6. Biodiversity impact assessment is not carried out at all for such projects.

Albanian is reach in biodiversity and this is dedicated to climate and geographical location but also the vast hydrographic network that includes complex habitats with connection from sea to mountains regions. The development of HPPs will directly affect the habitats and especially fauna among more threaten the fishes. To this threat freshwater fishes (about 60 species occur in Albania) are the most exposed, fragmentation of the rivers from dams will drastically reduce their habitats and especially halt forever the longitudinal movement of the fishes along the river stream (ponds, estuaries and reproduction zones). This will be detrimental for these species and all the related food chain such as otter, bears, birds of prey etc.

3. European Parliament Resolutions In 22 April 2015, the European Parliament (EP) has adopted two resolution calling Albanian Authorities to improve the current practice of HPPs concessions. In the In their Motion for a Resolution (Nr. 27) on the 2014 Progress Report, the vast majority of the 751 EU

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http://www.atrako.gov.al/?page_id=112 Law no 111/2012 enforced in November 2013 and based on EU Water Directive 2000/60/EC 5 Law no 10440/2011 enforced in February 2013 and based on EU EIA Directive 6 DCM no 866, dated 10.12.2014 “The list of habitat types and biodivesity species with European Community interest in Albania� This decision is based on the directives 92/43/EEC (habitat Directive) and 2009/147/EC (Birds Directive).

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parliamentarians demanded from Albania to abandon all large- and small-scale hydropower projects, particularly those in national parks.

In 14 April 2016 the EP has released the Resolution of 14 April 2016 on the 2015 Report on Albania7 (2015/2896(RSP)). Also in this decision the EP urges the Albanian Government …”to control the development of hydropower plants in environmentally sensitive areas such as around the Vjosa River and in protected areas and to maintain the integrity of existing national parks; recommends improving the quality of environmental impact assessments, which would allow account to be taken of EU standards as established by the Birds and Habitats Directives and the Water Framework Directive; encourages the Albanian Government to increase transparency through public participation and consultation on planned projects”.

So far no steps or action to reflect on these recommendations are taken from the Albanian Government in new HPP projects8. Both big scale HPP projects procedures of “Pocemi HPP” in Vjosa River and “Katundi i Ri” in Drini River are being developed within 2015- 2016.

Meanwhile a report with actions based on the NAPA review of HPPs in the protected areas is not available yet.

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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+TA+P8-TA-2016-0134+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN Personal confirmation with, Director of HPP concessions at the MEI