KESH

Korporata Elektroenergjetike Shqiptare sh.a. (KESH), also known as the Albanian Power Corporation, is the state‑owned public producer and largest electricity generator in Albania. Headquartered in Tirana, it operates the country’s most important power plants, centred on the Drin River Cascade hydropower plants at Fierza, Koman and Vau i Dejës with a combined installed capacity of 1,350 MW, complemented by the 98 MW Vlora thermal power plant. Together these assets account for around 79% of Albania’s generation capacity and around 65% of domestic electricity production, with the cascade alone supplying about 54% of overall national demand in an average year. KESH supplies roughly 70–75% of tariff customers’ electricity needs, covers transmission grid losses, and provides balancing energy and auxiliary services that underpin the security and stability of the Albanian power system. As of 31 December 2020 the group employed 729 staff. KESH has evolved from a vertically integrated utility founded in 1957 into a joint stock company focused on generation and wholesale trading, with transmission and distribution unbundled into separate system and distribution operators. The group currently comprises KESH Security, TEC Vlore, the headquarters unit and three hydro generation units on the Drin cascade, and it owns 100% of TEC Vlore sh.a. Strategically, KESH is diversifying its almost entirely hydro‑based portfolio through solar power: it is developing a 50 MWp ground‑mounted photovoltaic plant at Belsh, supported by an EBRD sovereign‑guaranteed loan and WBIF grant, and targeting more than 80 MWp of solar PV additions in line with national renewable energy goals. The company also pursues new projects such as the Skavica hydropower plant, additional photovoltaic plants at Qyrsaq and Zadeja Dam, and a floating power plant, while maintaining extensive dam safety, emergency preparedness, environmental monitoring and occupational health and safety programmes in cooperation with international partners including the EBRD and GIZ.