Italy, Albania, UAE sign deal for Adriatic energy link

By Federico Maccioni

ABU DHABI (Reuters) -Italy, Albania and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed on Wednesday a deal worth at least 1 billion euros ($1 billion) to build a subsea interconnection to import renewable energy across the Adriatic Sea.

The plan will strengthen the existing power interconnections "stretching 430 km along the Adriatic seabed, linking Italy to Montenegro and other Balkan regions... to make (them) more efficient and competitive," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

"The partnership marks a significant step towards enhancing energy security, promoting sustainable development, and accelerating the transition to clean energy in the Mediterranean region," a statement from the three countries said.

The deal with Albania - a close political ally of Meloni's right-wing government - also adds to a project to build an electricity connection between Italy and Tunisia to increase power flow capacity in the Mediterranean region.

The three-way partnership will involve Italian grid operator Terna and UAE's National Energy Company (Taqa), Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said.

He added that the infrastructure would connect the Albanian port of Vlore to the southern Italian region of Puglia, the narrowest point between the two countries, and was expected to be operational within a maximum of three years.

The project will allow Albania to sell locally produced renewable energy, at a time when the country has been working to diversify its renewable energy mix, increasing its capacity by some 500 MW in the past two years, Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure and Energy Minister Belinda Balluku told Reuters.

"By leveraging the UAE's world-class expertise in renewable energy, Albania's abundant natural resources, and Italy's sophisticated energy market, we are connecting nations in far-sighted collaboration," said Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. ($1 = 0.9708 euros)

(Reporting by Federico Maccioni, addiitonal reporting by Francesca Landini in Milan, writing by Giulia Segreti, editing by Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir)