USAID and the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure team up to strengthen the renewable energy sector in Kosovo 

Pristina, October 21^st, 2021 – On September 27, 2021, USAID’s Energy Sustainability Activity and Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (MESPI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the development of Kosovo’s renewable energy sector.

Improving the deployment of renewable energy projects in Kosovo with the assistance of geospatial mapping has brought together these two entities with unique synergies to further enhance Kosovo’s renewable energy sources. One of the key challenges that renewable energy developers in Kosovo have identified is the lack of data in terms of specific sites that can be used to develop wind and solar projects.

Over the next six months, MESPI and USAID’s Energy Sustainability Activity will engage at least five students and recent graduates from the first cohort of the ‘New Energy’ internship program to launch MESPI’s zoning map activities, as part of this MoU. This program will also support the Kosovo government’s efforts to identify new job opportunities for its qualified youth and their integration into Kosovo’s promising renewable energy sector. The internship program will enable students and graduates, specifically youth, minorities, women, and marginalized individuals, to promote renewable energy and identify the next generation of energy experts in the country.

USAID, through Energy Sustainability Activity, aims to help MESPI throughout the process of preparing zoning maps and updating Kosovo’s geo-portal, with an emphasis on the identification and categorization of all public lands and maps areas that could potentially be used for the development of utility-scale renewable energy. Further, this assistance will support Kosovo’s government efforts to transform Kosovo’s energy sector as it enhances its renewable energy options.

For further inquiries please contact:

MESPI, Gent Zeqiri, Media and Communication Advisor at gent.zeqiri@rks-gov.net 

USAID Kosovo, Xheraldina Cernobregu, Development Outreach, and Communication Specialist at xcernobregu@usaid.gov.