IHA Sustainability (IHAS) and the Albanian Power Corporation (KESH) have partnered to launch a long-term initiative to promote the development of sustainable hydropower in Albania and the Western Balkans. The capacity building programme is funded by the Department for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
Through a series of online training and self-assessments, the programme is designed to support authorities, investors and developers to implement international good practices in hydropower development using the Hydropower Sustainability Tools.
Hydropower in Albania and the Western Balkans
Albania almost solely depends on hydropower for domestic electricity generation. The rising demand has put pressure on its electricity grid leading to power shortages and blackouts during prolonged droughts. Albania has increasingly been importing electricity because of the lack of new capacity installation projects. Estimates show that only 30 to 35 percent of Albania’s hydropower potential has been developed thus far, but major social and environmental concerns in the country and Western Balkans have halted new hydropower project development.
Capacity building in sustainability
Hydropower projects allow us to benefit from a renewable source of electricity that can boost socio-economic development. However, as such projects inevitably impact the environment and communities in which they are built, it is crucial to identify and manage these impacts in line with good international practices.
Many developing countries lack the institutional capacity and in-house resources to ensure that hydropower projects are developed and managed responsibly and sustainably, and deliver benefits locally and regionally. These may lead to inadequate management of environmental and social aspects, thus stinting positive development outcomes and dividing local communities over the merits of hydropower.
Our capacity building programmes aim to fill this gap by strengthening institutional capacity within local regulators, developers and project owners, as well as promoting the long-term viability of project benefits.
Background
In November 2020, IHAS and KESH signed a cooperation agreement to incorporate sustainability principles in the design, planning and operation of hydropower projects in Albania and the Western Balkans. The programme aims to improve understanding and ownership of sustainable good practice in the region through the application of the Hydropower Sustainability Tools.
The programme will be delivered through a series of sustainability trainings, technical workshops and self-assessments. Participants will include local stakeholders from the public sector and regional development institutions, project developers and operators, as well as civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations involved in hydropower development, from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Starting in 2021 and going into 2022, the programme will allow participants to become proficient in the use of the Hydropower Sustainability Tools through the following activities:
Certified User Training on sustainability performance measurement using the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) and the Hydropower Sustainability ESG Gap Analysis Tool (HESG)
Training on international good practices
Accreditation training for local candidates
Assisted project assessment using HESG
Technical workshops
The outcome of the programme is for hydropower in Albania and the Western Balkans to be planned and developed more sustainably, and to provide a common language for key decision-makers, communities and NGOs to discuss sustainability issues in the region.
Further information
Learn more about our other capacity building programmes
Learn more about Albania’s hydropower potential
Learn more about Switzerland’s development projects in Albania
Contact us
For any enquiries on this initiative and training opportunities, please contact us at sustainability@hydropower.org