In a report to the Economic Commission in the United Nations related to the mining sector, the Albanian institutions underlined that the energy crisis has turned attention to all sources, including coal.

It seems that the reactivation of the mines has started where already a coal mine in the area of Kolonja is expected to start operating according to a permit granted in November 2022.

The company has asked to be provided with the necessary authorizations after being announced as the winner of the open competition by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and anticipates using an area of 0.960 km2 and annual production of 100 thousand tons per year.

"The coal industry in Albania was very developed a long time ago. With technological changes, it suffered a decline in its production. Today the world's largest processing industries are looking for coal ore. Albania has potential for the development of this industry”, the energy ministry has said.

The designed project aims to study the possibility of using and processing the coal mineral of the "Bezhan" facility, Korçë District, by the private entity "Selenica Bituminous Gravel" Shpk, which has submitted the request for obtaining a mining license. The value of the investment is expected to be around Lek 208 million, Monitor reports.

The same document specifies the history of the mine, underlining that the project for the exploitation and processing of coal ore will be developed in Mining Area No. 31/22 (former mining permit with No. 1613).

"This quarry has been open for many years, a lot of geological works have been carried out on this surface by the Former Korçë Geological Enterprise since 1970 and then this mining activity continued until 1992.”

According to the National Agency of Natural Resources in Albania, the coal reserves, according to the closing projects, are about 130 million tons. They are found in 3 main sources: about 86% of the reserves are located in the area of Tirana; about 10% of the reserves are located in the Korçë-Pogradec area; about 4.4% of the reserves are located in the area of Memaliaj.