International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

The study addresses to an economic comparison of two proposed wind farms in the same area in Mamaj, Albania, respectively 10.8 MW and 12.6 MW. The 12.6 MW wind farm proposed is predicted to produce 34 GWh energy, with a capacity factor of 30.8%, while the 10.8 MW wind farm is predicted to produce 30.4 GWh, with a capacity factor of 32%. For the 12.6 MW wind farm since there is a higher installed power, is expected to produce more energy, but referring that they will be built in same area, the wake losses will indicate in overall efficiency of the wind farm. The wake losses calculated for the 10.8 MW wind farm are 0.98%, meantime for the 12.6 MW wind farm wake losses is calculated 2.58%, means that the overall efficiency of the 10.8 MW wind farms is higher. For the economic evaluation RETScreen Expert software is used. With a discount rate of 7%, the benefit-cost ratio is 2.9 and simple payback period 7.6 years for 10.8MW wind farm, and for the 12.6 MW the benefit-cost ratio is calculated 2.6, with a simple payback year of 8 years.

The research focus addresses to installation of PV modules in industry sector in Albania. Due to energy crises, the prices are going higher and with the new regulations that are defined by Albanian government, businesses that are connected to 20kV, 10kV, 6kV transmission lines must secure the energy supply by their selves in open market, since a part of price was covered by government, now companies are facing higher prices. The new price is expected to increase more than 70%, up to 0.16 €/kWh from 0.092 €/kWh. Also, companies that will be in the open market will face price volatilities, hence with the installation of PV modules, reduction of electricity price is possible, since the LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) for the PV in Albania, including 20% VAT tax, is calculated around 0.035 €/kWh. To calculate the effect in electricity price a simulation using RETScreen Expert is performed. The simulations are made for a company connected to a 20kV electricity transmission line where an on-grid PV system 217.28 kW power installed is integrated on the roof. The PV modules covers 52.4% of the company electricity demand, by generating 286055 kWh electricity yearly from which 68% of electricity generated from PV is consumed by the company and 32% is exported to grid because company works 8 h/day and there is not an electricity storage system installed. With the price increment from 0.092 €/kWh to 0.16 €/kWh, the total earnings from PV installed system will be increased by an average 65.3% and if the electricity price in the open market is doubled the total earnings will be increased by an average 85.3%.

Recently, Albania as a developing country is focusing on the energy efficiency in residential and industry sector. Residential sector has very high contribution energy consumption in Albania due to many construction buildings without energy efficiency standards implementation. Most of the contribute city is Tirana where energy consumption in residential sector is very high in comparison to the other cities in Albania. Our research work will be focused on analysis of the energy audit on a private residence apartment which is located in the area of Tirana. The purpose of this paper is based on the relevant standards and norms to give appropriate recommendations for the implementation of energy efficiency which would increase the energy performance of this building.

A lot of techno-economic analyses have been conducted to seek the most cost-effective solution for irrigation purposes applied in the interval time of 25 years of project life. The possible benefits outlined by the PVWP system implementation have been identified, as well as the effects of the most sensitive parameters, such as installation price, incentives and other credit options such as carbon credit rate or feed in tariff. The output carried out from the simulation shows that PVWP system represents the best solution to provide free carbon and costless electricity to run the water pump for sprinkler irrigation in the agriculture sector in Albania. The environmental benefits have been also addressed, evaluating the CO2 emissions saving achievable from the PVWP system operation and some financial aspects such as simple payback period (SPP), NPV and the carbon footprint reduction per ha. As a conclusion replacement of diesel-powered water pumping used only for irrigation purposes results in an annual net reduction of CO2 emissions by 1.9416 ton per year which is equivalent to 861 litres of gasoline not burned. The net specific GHG reduction results 0.09708 kgCO2/m2, simple payback period results 5.7 year and Net Present Value (NPV) 4961.74€ and by applying a Feed-in tariff 0.0600 €/m³ then the water sale income results 19 817 € for the entire project life of 25 years starting from 2022.

Climate change and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, have significantly increased interest globally in implementing technologies utilising renewable energy sources such as wind energy. This rise in interest it also in countries in which there is a lack of data showing longitudinal measures of wind speed. Balkan Wind Atlas was developed from Sander&Partner Institute in October 2014. It offers wind maps that are suitable to identify the windiest areas covering a surface of 325 000 km2 and a database for secured planning of wind energy for Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. This study investigated the high level of consistency of empirical wind measurements conducted on-site, compared to the ones offered in Balkan Wind Atlas. We also explore the ways of utilising the atlas through the WasP software to study wind potencial even in those areas where there are no on-site measurements, thus lowering costs for investments in wind farm projects. The evaluation of the wind energy potential in Topoja area was taken as a case study.

In locations where electricity is not available and distribution lines are far away from the connection point, than other means are necessary to provide water for different applications especially in agriculture sector. Using a diesel pump to deliver water account economic and environmental problems. Fuel prices affect the overall costs of diesel-powered water pumping system thereby reducing the incomes from the sale of vegetables or other planted crops. In addition, the use of a diesel-powered water pump system can lead to considerable amount of CO2 released to the surrounding which cause global warming. A possible solution to these problems is using renewable energy source like solar power, which is environmentally friendly and available for free. This paper focus on the identification of sector energy consumption and the possibility of application of PVWP system in the agriculture sector. Several economic analyses have been conducted to establish the best cost-effective solution for irrigation in agriculture sector. The possible benefits generated by the PVWP system implementation for the selected region should be highlighted, as well as the effects of the most sensitive parameters. The solar potential in the site showed that PVWP can be the best solution to provide water for irrigation compared to other traditional water pumping technologies and also can reduce the dependency from fossil fuel powered water pumps and can help the diversification of the agriculture sector especially.

As a result of the global pandemic situation COVID-19 many rural areas in Albania are suffering and will more especially the lack of internet services have engaged in development and cultivation of knowledge in the education sector, responsible in building a safer and more caring community. Even more Albania is indexed as a European country that still continue to experience the lowest rate userpenetration of internet especially in remotes areas. Despite its widespread use in urban areas, a very significant portion of the rural population still isn’t connected to the internet. Immigration of the population from rural toward more urbanized areas and lack of reliable electricity supply and infrastructure are the main problems that hinder investors to offer internet services in remote regions. The performance analysis of a solar PV power plant is important aspect as far as concern with technology and economic analysis. Due to seasonal variation standalone system can’t provide a continuous power supply. Therefore, in recent years PV energy systems that combine solar energy and other conventional conversion units are becoming promising more popular, efficient to fulfill load demand and representing a cost-effective technology.

This work is focused to an off-grid PV-Genset-battery application as one of the most feasible technology to power internet access points antennas enabling to reduce GHG-s. Solar energy is clean, infinite and environment friendly source of energy. Remote areas especially in northern part of Albania is facing difficulties to the connection to the national electricity grid. Primarily diesel generators (Genset) are used for electricity power supply leading to negative effects into the surrounding. However, hybrid energy systems, such as PVGenset-battery systems have a high potential to reduce CO2 emissions, fuel costs and total cost of the system compared to the other options applied historically in telecommunication sector in Albania. Such systems are foreseen to play a key role in a stable, costless and emissionless way especially in off-grid applications. The performance, availability, costs and carbon intensity of photovoltaic power all indicate that this technology can make a very substantial contribution to reduce carbon emissions and gain carbon credits.