Plomin coal power plant, Croatia
December 18, 2012
CANCELLED: after five years of campaigning, plans for Plomin C were dropped in 2016. Croatian plans to more than double the capacity of the Plomin coal power plant would have resulted in increased carbon-emissions for several decades. The project’s profitability was questionable and the plans were facing local opposition and conflicting regional legislation.
EIB energy policy review – Time to lock out climate destructive investments for good
December 14, 2012
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s bank and also the biggest public financial institution in the world by lending volume, has launched a public consultation on its energy policy and is seeking views from the public and other stakeholders that should feed into a review of one of the EIB’s most crucial lending sectors. The new policy is expected to take effect from June 2013.
Never a dull moment in Slovene power plant soap opera
December 14, 2012
On November 30, the same day as the national government was under fire in the most heated protests Slovenia has seen in years, Slovenia’s ministers of finance and infrastructure added fuel to the flames by signing contracts with Simon Tot, director of the Sostanj lignite power plant for the controversial EUR 1.3 billion Sostanj Unit 6. These contracts prepare the ground for the signing of a state guarantee contract for a EUR 440 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the project.
More questions than answers as new EBRD mining policy is chiseled out
December 14, 2012
After long delays and more than three years in the making, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) finally in early November published its new mining sector policy. Yet both the consultation process and the final outcome have left “consulted stakeholders” disappointed.
Financial alchemy in Slovenia’s energy sector still results in lignite, not gold
December 11, 2012
Even with the latest investment plan for unit 6 at the Sostanj lignite power plant (TES 6), the project’s economics are (surprise, surprise) still distinctly shaky as an independent analysis shows. Nonetheless, the project looks ever more likely to get a state guarantee from the Slovene government.
Dirty coal gets closer to receiving almost half a billion euros from EU taxpayers
December 3, 2012
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is gearing up to pay 440 million euros to a new 600 MW lignite plant in Slovenia at a time when calls for an end to subsidies for fossil fuels are intensifying all over the world.
Croatia’s bold energy plans face uncertain future
November 26, 2012
Croatia is one of the world’s most energy-import dependent countries, yet there’s an increasingly mixed outlook for the ambitious investment plans of Croatian power monopoly Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP) following the recent turn of events at both home and abroad.
Letters to companies shortlisted to bid for the Plomin coal power plant
November 8, 2012
Four companies have been shortlisted and invited to submit binding bids for the construction of unit C at the Plomin coal power plant in Croatia. Croatian Bankwatch member group Zelena Akcija/Green Action sent letters to all four companies with information on the legal and economic challenges of the project and the local opposition against it.
That’s what they call sustainable. The EBRD’s 10 billion for sustainable energy
November 6, 2012
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development boasts of having invested 10 billion euros in sustainable energy since 2006. A closer look reveals that although the bank’s efforts deserve recognition, several investments make a mockery of ‘sustainability’.
Crunch time at Sostanj
November 5, 2012
November is shaping up to be crunch time for a new 600 MW lignite plant planned to be built at Sostanj in Slovenia. If the Slovenian government doesn’t manage to offer a state guarantee for loans from European public banks that should cover half the construction costs by the end of this month, the project could fail. At Bankwatch, we’re preparing our popcorn for the latest Sostanj thriller, on show across Europe this month.
