15 November 2021
On November 15, 2021 Cooperation Development Institute (CDI) organized the first B2B meeting on “New Developments in the Railway Sector: Embedding Energy Efficiency Actions” in the framework of the INTERREG IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro programme project ENEA – Energy Efficiency Living Lab – implemented by CDI Albania in cooperation with CE.F.A.S and Expeditio.
The event took place at the premises of the Albanian Railway Headquarters in Durres and it welcomed representatives from Durres Port Authority, Albanian Railways, Albenecon, INC SPA. EBRD, GeoEng, AlbMatrix, YAS Architecture Mesapia Style, energy experts etc.
The focus of this business-to-business meeting was to discuss about the main developments in the railway sector in Albania by taking into account the energy efficiency practices and sharing of experiences between the three Adriatic nations, Albania, Italy and Montenegro in the field of energy efficiency.
The event kicked off with the welcome note from Mr. Ardian Hackaj, Director of Research at Cooperation and Development Institute and Ms. Klorinda Ibro, Representative from Albanian Railways.
Furthermore, the event continued with the presentation of Mr. Alket Bedini, Director of Development and Infrastructure, Durres Port Authority (DPA), on the actual capacities of Durres Port and its main activities. More importantly he disclosed the future plans for the relocation of Durres Port in Porto Romano area. He presented the area assigned for the new port, its initial conceptual design and the activities that are foreseen to be transferred at the new facility.
After this presentation, Mr. Andy Zhugli, from Albenecon, tried to make the case for the necessity of a new railway segment to connect Porto Romano to Tirana and most importantly to Fushe-Kruja region where there are located the biggest quarries in the country. He provided arguments and facts illustrating the magnitude of works expected to be carried out and how the railway can minimize costs enormously. He presented a few feasible corridors for the railway segments and also for the future 220 kV line.
Afterwards, Ms. Eneida Elezi from Albanian Railways gave a presentation of the situation at Albanian Railways and described the future plans for the development of the rail network in Albania. She also invited into her presentation Mr. Andrea Ritano Technical Director of INC SPA, who described the status of the works for Tirana – Rinas Railway.
After her presentation representatives from EBRD also interjected and demonstrated some of the work they are doing with regard to new developments in the rail network of Albania.
After these contributions, Mr. Alket Bedini required that in the light of the development of Porto Romano, a re-prioritization is needed by the Albanian Railways and EBRD in order to accommodate this strategic project.
After the discussions about Durres Port and Railway connections between the representatives of DPA, Albanian Railways and EBRD the floor was passed on to Mr. Antonio De Castro from YAS Architecture and Mr. Emilio Sanapo from Messapia Style, who presented a case study about the works performed in the Puglia Region with respect to a new construction method using hemp plants mixed with cement. They illustrated this interesting and innovative method with an example of a simple building in Puglia demonstrating all stages of construction. The presentation rose the interest of the other participants, who asked about translating this experience into greater industrial scale settings and whether this construction method can be applied in Albania.
The working language of this workshop was English.
The agenda of the event can be found here. All presentations can further be consulted here.
