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
Bosnia-Herzegovina politicians mark April Fools’ Day by backing new coal plant
Campaign update | 1 April, 2019The Federal Bosnia-Herzegovina House of Peoples voted today in favour of a state guarantee for a EUR 614 million loan from China Eximbank to build the Tuzla 7 coal plant.
Read moreEnergy Community opens infringement procedure against Bosnia-Herzegovina over illegal Tuzla 7 state aid
Press release | 26 March, 2019The Energy Community Secretariat has today announced that it is officially opening a dispute settlement procedure on the planned Federal guarantee for a EUR 614 loan from the China Eximbank to build the Tuzla 7 coal power plant in Bosnia-Herzegovina.[1] The procedure can potentially lead to delays in the EU accession process and temporary suspension of financing by EU banks.
Read moreEnergy Community: Western Balkan coal subsidies worth over 1.2 billion euros in 2017
Press release | 25 March, 2019For immediate release. Energy Community countries propped up coal mining and electricity generation with direct and indirect public subsidies totalling at least 2.4 billion annually, out of which around half were provided by Western Balkan countries, shows a study (1) released today by the Vienna-based Secretariat of the Energy Community Treaty, the international treaty working to integrate the energy markets of the EU with those of its neighbours.
Read moreRelated publications
Kako se riješiti smoga
Study | 25 June, 2019 | Download PDFKoliko bi javno zdravlje Tuzle imalo koristi od provedbe zakonodavstva o kvalitetu zraka CEE Bankwatch Network i Centar za ekologiju i energiju su u Tuzli proveli neovisni monitoring čestica prašine poznate kao PM10. Pored toga smo, na osnovu zvaničnih
Lifting the smog
Study | 25 June, 2019 | Download PDFHow much Tuzla’s public health would benefit from enforcement of air quality legislation CEE Bankwatch Network and the Center for Ecology and Energy have therefore undertaken independent monitoring in Tuzla of coarse dust particles known as PM10. Toget
Policy on corporate loans based on PCM CRR on the EPS Restructuring project
Advocacy letter | 6 May, 2019 | Download PDFThe PCM has finalised the Compliance Review Report (CRR) of the EPS Restructuring project and has closed the case without further monitoring. We welcome the recommendation that clarification of the policy framework and strategic guidance are urgently r
