Kosova e Re lignite power plant, Kosovo
CANCELLED: For more than a decade, successive Kosovo governments planned to build a new 500 MW lignite plant (around 450 MW net), Kosova e Re or New Kosovo. The controversial project was finally cancelled in 2020 after concession-holder ContourGlobal pulled out.
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Narrow road ahead: the energy crisis in Kosovo in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Blog entry | 24 June, 2022Kosovo, almost entirely reliant on coal for its energy, has nevertheless been hard-hit by the ongoing energy crisis. What steps should the country take to address this, and at the same time end its reliance on fossil fuels?
Read moreSerbia: key national plan risks cementing coal dependence
Blog entry | 29 June, 2021The Serbian government’s 15-year national Spatial Plan is so keen to stick to business-as-usual it is openly ignoring some of the country’s most pressing issues to justify plans for six new fossil fuel-based power plants. Belgrade also doesn’t appear to care much about what Serbia’s neighbour to the east thinks regarding the implications these disastrous plans would have for them.
Read moreContourGlobal finally quits Kosova e Re coal plant
Blog entry | 17 March, 2020ContourGlobal is quitting the planned 500 MW Kosova e Re lignite power plant project in Kosovo. The company stated that it is now impossible for the project to meet the required milestones, citing, among others, the recent formation of a government led by a Prime Minister publicly opposed to the project.
Read moreRelated publications
The great coal jobs fraud – unrealistic employment claims in southeast Europe
Study | 14 November, 2016 | Download PDFThis report reveals how and why promises for new jobs in south-east Europe’s coal sector are exaggerated. Hardly any coal operations across the region are economically viable, and as a result many coal workers, especially in the mines, are set to lose their jobs, even if the plans for countless new power plants materialise. Governments, coal workers and their wider communities need to work together towards a just transition.
Western Balkans countries invest at least 2.4 times as much in coal as in wind power
Briefing | 26 May, 2016 | Download PDFAll the Western Balkans countries have committed to increase their share of renewable energy by 2020 to reach between 25 and 40 percent of their energy mix, as part of their obligations under the Energy Community Treaty. Yet this is far from obvious when examining their investment plans for new power generation capacity. Governments are actively planning to build 2800 MW of new coal plants with construction cost of at least EUR 4.5 billion. In contrast, these countries are only planning to build around 1166 MW of wind power plants, at an estimated cost of EUR 1.89 billion.
Possible coal and energy State aid cases in Energy Community countries based on publicly accessible information
Briefing | 8 June, 2015 | Download PDFBy signing the Energy Community Treaty in 2005, countries in the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova agreed to abide by the European Union’s competition rules. But a number of energy sector investments are being planned that may not so far have taken adequate account of state aid rules. This briefing includes case studies of projects from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine. See related materials including a more detail briefing, a press release and a slideshow at:
