Western Balkan governments still complicit in deadly coal pollution – new report

Seven years since pollution control rules came into force under the Energy Community Treaty, in 2024 sulphur dioxide emissions from coal plants included in the National Emissions Reduction Plans (NERPs)(2) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia were still collectively six times as high as allowed.

For the first time, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s NERP coal plants were the highest SO2 emitters, with 212,840 tonnes – an increase from the previous year and 11.3 times as high as allowed. Serbia followed, with 205,925 tonnes, or 4.6 times as high as allowed.

Region-wide, SO2 emissions have decreased only slightly since 2018. And the emissions limits were more stringent in 2024 than in previous years, leading to an even larger compliance gap.

For the fifth time since 2018, the biggest individual SO2 polluter in 2024 was Ugljevik in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 112,943 tonnes – even more than the previous year. Its operator, an Elektroprivreda Republike Srpska subsidiary, has spent at least EUR 85 million, financed by a Japan International Cooperation Agency loan, on a desulphurisation unit, but has admitted it is not working, partly because it is an ‘economic burden’.

No fewer than six units across the region exceeded their individual ceilings for sulphur dioxide emissions by more than ten times – Ugljevik, Gacko, Tuzla 6 and Kakanj 7 in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Kostolac A2 in Serbia; and Bitola B 1 & 2 in North Macedonia.

Dust pollution from NERP coal plants in the region was nearly twice as high as allowed in 2024 (1.9 times the limit). Emissions dropped slightly from 2023 but remained similar to 2018 levels. 

The highest dust emitter was Gacko in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It emitted 3,339 tonnes – 13.7 times as much as allowed. After protests by local people, improvements were announced in autumn 2023, however the plant’s pollution in 2024 was even higher than the previous year.

Nitrogen oxides pollution also totalled 1.4 times as much as allowed in the countries’ NERPs in 2024, compared to 1.3 times in 2023. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia all continued to breach their NOx limits, with Nikola Tesla B in Serbia emitting the most – 12,418 tonnes.

In addition to the NERP breaches, at the end of 2023, the deadline for closing the smallest and oldest plants under the ‘opt-out’ limited lifetime derogation expired. All three countries in the Western Balkans with coal power plants subject to this rule – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia – are still breaching it, as none of the plants have closed.

Montenegro’s Pljevlja plant has been running illegally since late 2020, and in 2022 was joined by Tuzla 4 and Kakanj 5 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Morava in Serbia. The Kolubara A plant, also in Serbia, also failed to stop operating at the end of 2023.

The Energy Community Secretariat has opened several infringement-type cases against the countries (3) but not a single government has imposed penalties on the coal plants in question. Nor do they have clear, updated and realistic plans for compliance and/or closure.

Davor Pehchevski, Balkan Energy Coordinator at Bankwatch – ‘In six months, the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) will finally limit exports of Western Balkan countries’ carbon-intensive electricity by imposing fees on imports to the EU. This will make their ageing, inefficient coal plants even less economic. But the Balkan governments and utilities seem oblivious, as if they have all the time in the world. Clear, workable plans are urgently needed.’

Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Policy Officer at Bankwatch – ‘EU enlargement is back on the agenda, but the harsh reality is that Western Balkan governments are showing no interest in people’s health or the environment. Instead of a robust response to these chronic breaches, the European Commission recently prioritised the Jadar lithium mine in Serbia as ‘strategic’, rewarding the regime’s failure to uphold the rule of law. This has to change, and fast’.

Contacts:

Davor Pehchevski,

Balkan Energy Coordinator

davor.pehchevski@bankwatch.org  

Tel: +389 71 264 087

Pippa Gallop

Southeast Europe Energy Policy Officer

pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org

Tel: +395 99 755 9787

Ioana Ciută, Strategic Area Leader – Beyond Fossil Fuels

ioana.ciuta@bankwatch.org

Tel: +40 724 020 281

Notes for editors: 

(1) The report is available at ComplyOrClose.org

(2) As part of their obligations to comply with the Large Combustion Plants Directive under the Energy Community Treaty, four Western Balkan countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia – have drawn up National Emission Reduction Plans (NERPs) covering the period from 2018 to 2027. Instead of requiring each large combustion plant to comply with the emission limit values from the Large Combustion Plants Directive from 1 January 2018, these plans allow the countries to calculate national emissions ceilings for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust, and to gradually decrease their total emissions from selected pre-1992 large combustion plants until 2027. In 2027, all the plants included in the NERPs will individually need to be in compliance not only with the emission limit values from the Large Combustion Plants Directive, but also with Part 1 of Annex V to Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions.

(3) Due to the breaches of the NERP pollution limits, in March 2021 the Energy Community Secretariat opened dispute settlement cases against BiH, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia.

In July 2023, the Energy Community Secretariat took further steps against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Macedonia, making a reasoned request to the Energy Community Ministerial Council to make decisions on the cases, which it did in December 2023. The case against Serbia remains open but has not escalated due to ongoing desulphurisation investments.

Due to the breaches of the opt-out provisions, the Energy Community Secretariat also opened dispute settlement cases against Montenegro in April 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 2022, and Serbia in October 2023.