What’s Fuelling the Czech Automotive Motor? How the EU Modernisation Fund Subsidized Škoda Energo’s Shift to Forest Biomass
November 5, 2026
The European Union’s Modernisation Fund was established with a clear mandate to help lower-income Member States transition toward climate neutrality by upgrading energy systems, boosting efficiency, and helping recipients withstand the socio-economic shocks of decarbonisation. It is financed by revenue from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a way to turn industry’s carbon emission payments into needed capital for Europe’s energy transition. Yet, in the Czech Republic, the actual results of the Modernisation Fund have not advanced the energy transition nearly as far as it needs to be. One of the most glaring examples of this is in the district heating sector.
Vienna’s climate-resilient heating transition
November 5, 2026
Vienna is one of Europe’s leaders in district heating decarbonisation. The company running it is a publicly owned utility and its system is massive, covering 35 to 40 percent of Vienna’s heat market.
Romania’s energy crisis exposes faltering gas strategy as battery storage surges
September 30, 2026
Romania’s energy crisis has laid bare the risks of relying on delayed gas projects to replace coal power. Meanwhile, battery storage has been developing much faster and is already providing much-needed flexibility. Even a state-owned coal company with designs on a gas power plant is now pursuing battery storage instead.
Romania prepares to launch 1.1 GW gas-fired turbines next month
September 29, 2026
Romania’s Mintia gas-fired power plant is set to launch with an initial capacity of about 1.1 GW next month, increasing to 1.7 GW early next year, the country’s energy ministry told Montel on Monday. CEE Bankwatch Network last week criticised Romania’s focus on new gas capacity, arguing that battery storage was developing faster and could provide flexibility to the power system.
Romania’s gas strategy falters as battery capacity surges – NGO
September 29, 2026
Romania’s battery storage capacity has expanded rapidly and is already providing grid flexibility, while the ongoing energy crisis has exposed the country’s failings in focusing on delayed gas projects, NGO CEE Bankwatch Network said on Friday.
Letter to the World Bank Board on the Serbia – Strategic Gas Infrastructure and Institutional Strengthening Project
September 22, 2026
In this joint letter we urge the World Bank Board to defer approval of the Serbia – Strategic Gas Infrastructure and Institutional Strengthening Project.
Death by a thousand transmission lines
August 6, 2026
The EBRD-backed development of the 400/110/35 kV Brezna substation for Montenegro’s transmission grid is opening several crucial questions – where is the red line beyond which a project’s impact on local communities makes it unacceptable? Can this even be assessed when all the institutions and financiers involved fail to identify even the obvious impacts? And why are the project’s backers so reluctant to provide environmental documentation to the affected people?
Before the money arrives, the work begins: how Kolašin in Montenegro is preparing for renewable district heating
August 4, 2026
Located below the Bjelasica mountain in northern Montenegro, the town of Kolašin is experiencing a rapid transformation. The expansion of the local ski resort, which attracted around 80,000 visitors during the 2025/2026 winter season, is accelerating tourism growth and new construction. As the town grows, local authorities face a critical challenge – ensuring that new heating infrastructure supports sustainable renewable solutions and avoids locking the town into fossil fuel-based systems for decades.
Up to a third of EU decarbonisation fund spent on natural gas, report finds
August 4, 2026
A big chunk of the EU’s flagship industrial decarbonisation fund was spent on fossil fuels and other climate-unfriendly programmes, according to a report published on Wednesday. In the late 2010s, Brussels created the Modernisation Fund to soften the blow of the carbon price paid by European factory and power plant operators under the ‘Emissions Trading System’ (ETS), which is currently over €80 a tonne of CO2.
Glass half full? Mid-term analysis of the Modernisation Fund’s operations
July 29, 2026
This publication updates Bankwatch’s 2025 assessment of the EU’s Modernisation Fund and comes at a critical moment for EU climate and energy policy.
