Comply or Close 2023: five years of deadly legal breaches by Western Balkan coal plants
June 28, 2023
The end of 2022 marked five years since new air pollution standards entered into force in the Western Balkans on 1 January 2018. Yet the deadly air pollution from the region’s mostly antiquated coal power plants has hardly decreased at all. In fact, in 2022 it increased compared to 2021 for all three regulated pollutants
Kosovo becomes the first Western Balkan country to stop promoting new hydropower
March 28, 2023
After years of hydropower-related controversies, Kosovo’s long-awaited new Energy Strategy confirms that the government does not support new development in the sector, due to its environmental impacts. It also sends promising signals on carbon pricing and solar and wind development. Still, the country needs to avoid wasting money on coal and gas.
Narrow road ahead: the energy crisis in Kosovo in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
June 24, 2022
Kosovo, 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?
New Balkan Coal Plants ‘Will Pollute Environment’
June 14, 2017
Most Western Balkans countries rely heavily for power on coal plants, and most of the new ones being built will not meet European environmental standards, warned a report from a watchdog group. Source: New Balkan Coal Plants ‘Will Pollute Environment’
TE Stanari – the last TE on coal?
September 21, 2016
Regionalna politika prema ugljenu opire se raciju i ekonomici – BiH planira gradnju najmanje četiri elektrane, a možda i njih sedam, Crna Gora gura neisplativ projekt TE Pljevlja 2, a Kosovo valjda planira svoje stanovništvo opljačkati zlosretnom TE Ko
Kosovo aims to secure largest ever investment amid political crisis
November 26, 2015
Pristina is moving towards a deal with US-based ContourGlobal on the planned Kosova e Re power plant, which at a cost of €1bn will be the largest investment in the country’s history. The government says the project will solve Kosovo’s chronic electricity shortages by replacing the aging Kosova A thermal power plant – considered Europe’s worst polluter – with a modern 500MW plant. However, the strong opposition to the plans to build a new coal-fired power plant close to the capital could add to the ongoing unrest within Kosovo.
Guest post: Resettlement process for Kosovo Power Project does not comply with international standards
February 3, 2015
A report being presented today analyses the process with which 7000 are to be resettled for the Kosovo lignite mine and concludes that the World Bank-financed process does not comply with the bank’s own standards and is plagued by a slew of other weaknesses.
[Campaign update] KOSID contests the opening process of the tender for the ‘New Kosovo’ Power Plant
December 23, 2014
A press-realease issued by KOSID on December 21.
Where’s Plan B for Kosovo’s energy sector?
March 20, 2014
Ideas about the construction of a new lignite power plant in Kosovo have existed since the end of the 1980s, and even the current Kosova e Re proposal – scaled down to 600 MW from the original 2100 MW – has been around since 2009. It is being touted by the Kosovo government, the World Bank, USAID and the European Commission among others as the only realistic option to replace the ageing and heavily polluting Kosovo A power plant.
Where’s Plan B for Kosovo’s energy sector?
March 18, 2014
When it comes to Kosovo’s energy future, institution after institution has been putting most of its eggs in a ‘new lignite’ basket while some very reasonable alternative investment options seem to fall by the wayside.
