“The Tuscany of Albania”; Roskovec residents protest against the TPP

Dozens of residents of five villages in Roskovec protested Thursday afternoon against the construction of a new 170 MW thermal power plant in the fields near them, approved a week ago by the Council of Ministers.

Holding banners, residents of the villages of Suk 1, Suk 2, Arapaj, Jagodina and Strum, which Prime Minister Edi Rama had called "the Tuscany of Albania" a few years ago, described the project as a "criminal act," which, according to them, damages the area's environment and endangers agriculture as the main economic activity.

“This is a livestock and agricultural area. Over 750 hectares of greenhouses produce for our country, the EU and the Balkans. This is breadland,” said one of the protesters. He added that they had requested a meeting with the prime minister, but were not received. “We came all the way to Tirana, but the prime minister does not listen to us. I have two children; this is the generation that Germany is taking away from us,” he added.

The construction of a gas-fired power plant, announced in the spring of 2023, was approved by the Council of Ministers at its meeting on December 18, 2024. The permit, which according to the decision is not a concession, was granted to the joint-stock company “FIER THERMOELECTRIC” JSC, FTE, whose shares are owned 30% by the Albanian company “Gener 2,” 35% by the private Greek company GEK TERNA SA, and 35% by the Public Gas Corporation of Greece, DEPA COMMERCIAL SA. The latter, based on the public Environmental Impact Assessment report, has guaranteed with a 2022 contract the supply of gas to the power plant through the TAP pipeline for 7 years.

According to the Ministerial Decision, the power plant will be built and put into operation within 36 months from the entry into force of this decision and will be used for a period of 49 years. In the decision, the government declares that it will receive 2% of the annual production as a “royalty,” while the company is obliged to sell, according to the law in force, part of the energy to the public distributor.

The protesters demanded a halt to the construction of the TPP, claiming that it would cause massive pollution in the area. They stressed that the refusal to listen to the voices of the residents and the lack of public consultations are indicators of the arrogance of the government, which aims to depopulate the area of ​​10,000 residents.

Residents say the power plant will damage the land and water, as well as their health. They fear that the area, until now free of industry and with an economy mainly based on agriculture, could face the same fate as the fields of Patos-Marinza.

Meanwhile, in the arguments for the revision of the local plan to enable the construction of the thermal power plant, the expertise conducted at the request of the Roskovec Municipality argues that the thermal power plant would be more profitable than agriculture on the same land area. “The socio-economic contribution of the thermal power plant, the Roskovec thermal power plant, is estimated to be about 400 times higher than that of agricultural activity on the same area and for the same 25-year period,” the report states.

However, the report does not consider the impact the TPP could have on surrounding agricultural economies, although it indirectly raises concerns about the pollution and alienation of water resources in the area. According to the report, the TPP is located just 1.2 kilometers from the Seman River, and its processes could lead to “contamination of drinking water.”

"The discharge of high-temperature used water (as a result of the technological process) can have serious impacts on the life cycle of animal and plant organisms, as well as on the functioning of natural ecosystems (aquatic and terrestrial)," the report states.

Dhurata Malka, an opposition member of the Roskovec Municipal Council, stated that the decision to allow the construction of the TEC was made without respecting public hearing procedures and without taking into account the opinions of residents.

“The hearing was held and school cleaners and some administration employees participated. This was the hearing they held,” Malka said, accusing residents of not taking their views into consideration. She warned that the impact on the area would be “catastrophic.”

“Here we have two schools, whose students, in addition to the health risks, will also suffer from noise pollution,” Malka added to BIRN. Reporter.al