Albania is in the process of shifting from a solar market focused on deployment to an integrated renewable energy market, according to analysis from Dr. Lorenc Gordani, an energy market and regulatory lawyer and lecturer.

After previous estimates put Albania’s solar capacity at between 600 MW and 650 MW by the end of last year, annual data published by the country’s Energy Regulator Authority (ERE) has confirmed cumulative capacity stood at 631 MW by the end of 2025.

Gordani told pv magazine that while a consolidated official figure for new solar capacity in 2026 is not yet available, the market continues to expand strongly.

According to data released by Albania’s Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) earlier this week, electricity generated from other renewable sources during the first half of 2026 totaled 702 GWh in Albania, a 51% increase on the 464 GWh across the first half of 2025 and a 35% increase on the 519 GWh from the second half of 2025.

The figure accounts for all renewable sources other than hydropower, which is the dominant energy source in Albania and is monitored separately by INSTAT’s data collection. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, Albania generated a quarterly record of 448 GWh from other renewable sources.

Gordani added that utility-scale PV remains the main driver of investment, while commercial self-generation and distributed solar are becoming increasingly relevant.

“ERE continued to process new and modified PV licences during H1, confirming a substantial project pipeline,” he said.

Albania has introduced a new electricity sector law, No. 59/2026. The new law, which entered into force in July, introduces energy storage operations and aggregation as two additional licensed activities and permits so-called ‘active clients’ that can generate, consume, store and sell electricity. Gordani said such developments provide the basis for the next stage of electricity market development.

“The implementation process has already started at ERE level. I see this as particularly important for investors because Albania is moving towards a more structured, market-based framework, with stronger integration of renewable generation, market participation and system flexibility,” he said.

Albania is also developing a framework for self-producers of renewable energy, with rules from May establishing procedures for grid connection and compensation of renewable self-producers under a net-billing methodology. “[This] should support further growth of distributed and C&I solar,” Gordani said.

Gordani told pv magazine the biggest challenge facing Albania’s solar market is efficient integration into the electricity system, with grid capacity, balancing, flexibility and bankability becoming more important as penetration increases.

He continued that this provides a major opportunity for solar-plus-storage systems. The country’s renewable energy legislation provides a framework for support and integration of storage, Gordani said, with ERE now working to register storage operators.

Gordani also predicted continued strong growth through the remainder of 2026 in Albania’s solar market, particularly in utility-scale and C&I projects.

“However, the market is entering a more sophisticated phase where value will increasingly come from combining PV, storage, flexible generation, market participation and grid services, rather than simply adding generation capacity,” he added. “The combination of a growing PV pipeline, the new electricity-sector law, improved rules for self-producers and the emerging regulatory framework for storage creates a particularly interesting window for investors and developers in 2026–27.”

Last month, the Albanian government adopted amendments to its law governing agricultural land to allow agrivoltaics to be developed on specific categories of land.