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
Risks for coal and electricity investments in the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova due to state-aid rules
Study | 8 June, 2015 | Download PDFBy signing the Energy Community Treaty in 2005, countries in the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova agreed that the European Union’s competition rules are to be applied also within their territory. A number of energy sector investments are being planned that may not so far have taken adequate account of State aid rules. This briefing therefore provides a summary to draw attention to relevant requirements of EU law and highlight the risks of failure to take them into account when planning investments. The account when planning investments.
Where will all that power go? New study assesses extravagant energy ambitions in the western Balkans
Bankwatch Mail | 14 May, 2015 |Western Balkan countries have ambitious plans to increase their electricity generation over the next years. But what will happen if they all become a regional energy hub? Will there be a demand for all the available electricity?
Stranded assets in the Western Balkans – report on the long-term economic viability of new export capacities
Study | 19 March, 2015 | Download PDFCountry chapters available for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia. For other languages, see here. Analysing the estimated energy demand and production capacities in Western Balkan countries, this study shows that if countries realise their planned capacity expansions, the region will have a 56 per cent electricity surplus in 2024, led by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Nearly all governments in the region aspire to become electricity exporters, but the study argues that if governments fail to take into account the regional perspective, they could end up with power plants becoming simply uneconomic to operate.