Western Balkans: coal pollution increases due to government ​failures​​​​​ – new report

​​Six years since pollution control rules came into force under the Energy Community Treaty, 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 5.7 times as high as allowed in 2023. This is a step backwards from 2022, when they were 5.6 times as high. ​​​ 

​​The highest absolute emitter of SO2 in 2023 was Ugljevik in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 97,189 tonnes. 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 following a series of technical problems, now admits it is not working, partly because it is an ‘economic burden’. 

Fellow repeat offender Kostolac B in Serbia had finally started to decrease its SO2  emissions in 2021, but has increased them since then, emitting nearly 5.8 times as much as allowed in 2023. Either the desulphurisation unit, financed by the China Eximbank and installed by the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), is not being used much, or it is underperforming. 

Dust pollution from NERP coal plants across the region was nearly 1.75 times as high as allowed in 2023 – only a minor decrease from 1.8 times in 2022. Nitrogen oxides pollution also totalled 1.3 times as much as allowed. For the first time, Serbia joined Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina in breaching its NOx ​​​​​limit​. 

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 now breaching it, as all the plants are still operating.  

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. Morava’s operator, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), plans to run it until 2026, along with another opt-out plant, Kolubara A.  

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 – ‘Governments and utilities are intent on squeezing every last kilowatt out of their ageing coal power plants, regardless of the health costs. The countries’ national energy and climate plans (NECPs) must set out how and when coal will be phased out, but so far, most do not. In North Macedonia, closures are being delayed with no action being taken to address pollution in the meantime. Utilities can’t have it both ways – coal plants must either close immediately or comply until they close.’ 

Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Policy Officer at Bankwatch – ‘At a time when EU leaders appear confident in Serbia’s ability to manage the environmental impacts of lithium mining, our report provides a sobering reality check about environmental law enforcement in the region. The European Commission’s inability to ensure compliance with EU pollution control legislation puts a major dent in the EU’s image in the region: The new Enlargement Commissioner must tackle this head on.’ 

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.