An Approach to the Large-Scale Integration of Wind Energy in Albania

Abstract

Recently, the Albanian government has compiled national energy strategy with a special focus on promoting the use of renewable energy sources (RES) which identifies a target of 42% of the final energy consumption from RES by 2030. In this paper, analyses are conducted in order to investigate to which extent and way the absorption capacity of the power system from RES electricity can be improved. As an effective approach of implementing wind power, fostering the accommodation of renewable energy sources, especially on large-scale, a detailed techno-economic analysis of the 164 MW installed grid-connected wind farm, considered as a potential source, Korça district is analyzed. Conjoining two different types energy tools, RETScreen, a tool used on plant scale level and EnergyPLAN model applied for large energy system on national level including all energy sectors an optimization process is notably focused to attain 42% of the final energy consumption from RES by 2030, which was highly preformed in EnergyPLAN model. The results execute in EnergyPLAN identifies that the wind power capacity should be at least1850 MW and an installation cost not more than 1.1m€/ MW considering a bench mark price of electricity €76/MWh. The results of the study highlight the importance of high levels of RES integration which not only reduces greenhouse gases but will technically favor the creation of a flexible and sustainable energy system over time. Finally, the need for a sustainable and clear national energy model is inevitable, reshaping key points factors that hamper the integration on large-scale of wind power in Albania.

An Analysis Towards a Sustainable Energy System in Albania Highly Supported by Large Scale Integration of Wind Resources: A Case Study of Mamaj Wind Farm

“…Two previous research study (Malka et al, 2020 found that the site with the most wind potential is the area over the hills. Strictly speaking, the direct use of measured wind speed data for wind resource calculations results in power estimates that are representative only for the actual position of the wind-measuring instruments.…”

“…• Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) in electricity production can be defined as the present value of the electricity price produced in c€/kWh, taking into account the economic life of the park and the costs incurred in construction, operation, maintenance, and for fuel. Along this line, the generation cost during construction and production periods can be given expression ( 6) (Malka et al, 2020;IRENA, 2018):…”

“…The decrease in electricity production has affected the increase of gross imports of electricity by about 1.8 times and the decrease of gross exports of electricity by about 3.5 times, compared to the same period of the previous year. This situation creates and clarifies the idea of better management of energy reserves in the country and the importance of increasing new generation capacities and of course integrating Energy Storage System (ESS) as unenviable option for a large-scale integration of RES (Malka et al, 2020).…”

“…One of the major This Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License economic advantages of harvesting wind energy in Albania is the reduction in the country's economic dependency on hydropower for electricity generation. In most of Europe, the increase in utilization of wind power for electricity has resulted in increased economic stability against fluctuating fuel prices, despite the fact that wind can be a more expensive way of producing electricity (Malka et al, 2020).…”

“…These changes led to an increase in energy demand. After many years of transition, structural changes in the power sector, unfortunately did not provide a clear vision of developing new generation capacities and diversification of energy sources (Malka et al, 2020). Based on this uncertainty of electricity supply, the national energy strategy 2018-2030 was drafted and compiled, which proposes several possible scenarios of transition of the energy system.…”