New South East Europe NGO scorecard report shows mixed progress towards a sustainable energy sector

Belgrade, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tirana, Zagreb – Progress – albeit uneven – is being made towards increasing sustainability in South East Europe’s energy sector, according to a new scorecard report launched today by a group of NGOs (1). CO2 emissions, electricity losses and energy intensity have all seen decreases in most countries in the region, but less progress has been made on increasing the share of solar and wind energy and tackling corruption.

The report is available at:
https://bankwatch.org/publications/sustainable-energy-how-far-has-south-east-europe-come-last-five-years

The scorecard, covering seven countries (2) and comparing data from 2010 and 2014/2015, aims to complement the European Commission’s annual progress reports – launched tomorrow. It looks beyond the adoption of legislation to examine concrete changes during the last five years.

Among the findings are:

• CO2 emissions per capita from fuel combustion decreased between 2010-2014 in all countries except Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania. Serbia’s drop may however have been the result of the 2014 floods.
• Croatia has the most wind and solar power in the region, with 5.5% of electricity from wind in 2014. Solar generation was at 35 GWh in 2014 – however it has used only a tiny fraction of its potential.
• Transmission and distribution losses dropped between 2010-2015 in all countries except Albania.
• Kosovo is the most coal-dependent country in the region, with 97% of electricity from coal in 2014. Macedonia and Serbia are second and third, with 69.5% and 64.8% respectively of their electricity from coal. For comparison, the EU generated 26.3% of electricity from coal in 2014.
• Energy intensity – the amount of energy needed to produce a unit of GDP – dropped between 2010-2014 in all countries except Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.
• Between 2010-2015 all countries except Macedonia and Albania improved their scores in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index – but only slightly.

“It’s reassuring to see that several countries in the region have shown themselves capable of reducing per capita greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion. However Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina’s underperformance is likely to soon become a liability if they don’t take swift action” commented Dragana Mileusnić of Climate Action Network Europe.

“Finally we can see that some progress is being made on energy wastage through transmission and distribution losses and inefficient use in most of the region, but why is Albania failing to take advantage of these low-hanging fruits? Such investments are win-win, there is no excuse to keep haemorrhaging energy”, added Lira Hakani of EDEN Center, Albania.

“It’s disappointing to see that in spite of high interest from investors, there is still hardly any wind and rooftop solar power in the region. All the countries have renewable energy targets to meet by 2020 and solar and wind are two of the energy sources that could still be increased by then if there is political will”, concluded Sonja Risteska of Analytika, Macedonia.

For more information, contact

Ana Ranković
SEE SEP Network Coordinator
E-mail: Ana-Fractal@seechangenet.org
Mob:+381 63 180 33 33

Pippa Gallop
Research Co-ordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
E-mail: pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org
Mob:+385 99 755 9787

Notes for editors:

(1) South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy (SEE SEP) is a project with 18 CSO partners from across the region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo*, Macedonia**, Montenegro and Serbia) and the EU. The SEE SEP project aims to empower CSOs and citizens to better influence policy and practice towards a fairer, cleaner and safer energy future in SEE. The report is supported by the following groups:

SEE Change Net
Analytica (Macedonia)
ATRC (Kosovo)
CEKOR (Serbia)
CPI (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
CZZS (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
DOOR (Croatia)
EDEN (Albania)
Ekolevizja (Albania)
Eko-Svest (Macedonia)
Forum for Freedom in Education (Croatia)
Fractal (Serbia)
Front 21/42 (Macedonia)
Green Home (Montenegro)
MANS (Montenegro)
WWF Adria
CEE Bankwatch Network
CAN Europe

(2) Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo*, Macedonia**, Montenegro and Serbia.

* According to the UN, Kosovo is “under the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1244.”
** According to the UN, the official name for Macedonia is “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.