The economic viability of coal is ever decreasing. Without public financial support many coal investments are doomed to fail. Yet several institutions are still willing to finance an energy source that wrecks our climate, damages our health and wastes our money.
To help bring about a world beyond coal, we investigate and promote a socially responsible transition while exposing the economic, legal, social and environmental risks of coal power.
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We provide updates in English from the Balkans and other coal regions.
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Just transition
No one should be left behind when we reconstruct our world into one driven by clean energy. Working on just transition brings all actors who believe in fair regional redevelopment to the same table: unions, industry, public administration, governments, civil society and others sharing this goal.
Coal projects
Rovinari unit 7, Romania
The Romanian Government has been negotiating for several years with the Chinese Government to build a new 600 MW unit at the lignite power plant in Rovinari, Gorj County. The new unit would be built on the site of Units 1 and 2, currently decommissioned. A new up and running plant would pollute the whole region for at least 40 more years, a coal plant’s average lifespan.
Gacko II, Bosnia and Herzegovina
State-owned utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske, together with China Machinery and Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and Emerging Markets Power Fund, plans to build a new 350 MW lignite power plant in Gacko, near the town’s existing plant, and in December 2017 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to move the project forward.
Kamengrad lignite power plant, Bosnia-Herzegovina
An idea to build a power plant at the open-cast Kamengrad coal mine near Sanski Most in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina has been around for years, but in 2017 it took a step forward with the November signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Energy China International and the Bosnia-Herzegovina construction supplier Lager d.o.o. for a 2 X 215 MW plant.
Latest news
Les Balkans s’enfoncent dans le charbon chinois
Bankwatch in the media | 16 July, 2018La Chine investit massivement dans l’industrie du charbon en Europe de l’Est, dans le cadre de sa stratégie des nouvelles routes de la soie. Pékin tire profit d’une région où les règles sont, en pratique, plus que flexibles. Source: Les Balkans s’enfon …
Read moreIn Central Europe, activists fight for ‘just transition’ away from coal
Bankwatch in the media | 12 July, 2018As Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic start phasing out coal, campaigners argue that all actors – including small entrepreneurs, communities and civil society – must be part of the process. Source: In Central Europe, activists fight for ‘just tran …
Read moreYenilenebilir enerji, kömürden daha fazla istihdam yaratıyor
Bankwatch in the media | 9 July, 2018Güneydoğu Avrupa ülkelerinin birçoğunda yeni kömür santralleri kurulması planlanıyor. AB ülkelerinin, özellikle de gelişmiş ekonomilerinde ise, kömür santralleri artık gündemde değil. Bunun nedeni kömür santrallerinin iklim ve sağlık üzerindeki olumsuz …
Read moreRelated publications
The great coal jobs fraud (2018 UPDATE)
Study | 28 June, 2018 |This study, an update of our November 2016 analysis, examines the claims and finds that in almost all cases, they are exaggerated. In fact, even the current levels of employment cannot be maintained and some companies such as Elektroprivreda Srbije and …
New Kosovo power plant – an expensive and outdated anomaly in a decarbonising world
Briefing | 19 June, 2018 | Download PDFAfter years of delay, the New Kosovo lignite power plant took a step forward in 2017 with the signing of commercial contracts. However, numerous old issues, including carbon emissions, resettlement, and the dubious single-bidder procurement process, ha …
How can the EBRD maximise its leverage to bring about decarbonisation?
Briefing | 19 June, 2018 | Download PDFThe economic viability of coal is ever decreasing. Without public financial support many coal investments are doomed to fail. Yet several institutions are still willing to finance an energy source that wrecks our climate, damages our health and wastes …
