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
Bulgarian authorities, forced to think about Just Transition
Blog entry | 15 June, 2018The closure of the largest underground mine in Bulgaria, Bobov Dol in the southwest of the country, means Bulgarian authorities are finally forced to think about Just Transition.
Read moreZaključavanje u ugljen, zaključavanje u prošlost
Bankwatch in the media | 12 June, 2018Dok Kina ubrzano radi na dekarbonizaciji svoje ekonomije, kineske tvrtke i banke grade ili financiraju projekte termoelektrana na ugljen na Balkanu. U BiH je nedavno tako sagrađena termoelektrana Stanari, koja je u cijelosti dopremljena iz Kine, a Blok …
Read moreChina, the Western Balkans and the EU: Can three tango?
Blog entry | 17 May, 2018With China pouring loans into the Western Balkans, the EU must step in to ensure this money benefits the region, writes Wawa Wang.
Read moreRelated publications
Review of the coal sector in Tajikistan
Study | 18 December, 2017 | Download PDFThis study provides a detailed assessment of the state of affairs in Tajikistan’s coal sector and in the development of solutions for environmental protection.
Gas lending at the European Investment Bank 2013-2016
Briefing | 12 December, 2017 | Download PDFSince the European Investment Bank (EIB) revised its energy lending criteria in 2012, it has limited its support for fossil fuels projects in the energy sector and eliminated the most polluting power plants from its portfolio. However, the bank’s contr …
The weakest link – the EBRD’s energy lending 2010-2016
Briefing | 11 December, 2017 | Download PDFDespite commitments to help address the climate crisis, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development awarded fossil fuel projects EUR 4.05 billion between 2010 and 2016 – more than double its support for renewable energy during the same period.
