Complaint submitted to EnC against North Macedonia over small hydropower plants
Environmental groups Eko-Svest and CEE Bankwatch Network have filed a complaint to the Energy Community (EnC) Secretariat over North Macedonia’s redesigned renewable energy incentives scheme which they say is unfairly favoring small hydropower plants (SHPPs). As of February, North Macedonia’s renewable energy incentives system subjects solar photovoltaic (PV) producers and most wind producers, but not […]
Protests against hydropower planned across Balkans from July 6-16
Environmental activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) from across the Balkans are organizing protests under the slogan “Our rivers – No DAMage!” in July over hydropower projects threatening to leave local populations without homes, arable lands, drinking water, and irrigation supply, or the landscape they have enjoyed for generations. The protests against hydropower plants (HPPs) […]
ENTSO-E gets new leadership team
A newly elected team of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) will be led by Herve Laffaye, Deputy CEO of RTE (Reseau de Transport d’Electricite), the French transmission system operator (TSO). The new ENTSO-E leadership team took office on June 28. Laffaye is President of the ENTSO-E Assembly while the Vice-President […]
Most Read in June: Siemens Gamesa’s ETES, Montenegro goes coal-free for 10 days, EC Albania report
Even though it was published in late June, the news about Siemens Gamesa’s breakthrough electrothermal energy storage system made it to the number one spot on our English-language Top 3 Most Read list for June. The Top 3 Most Read list for June is also available for our portal’s Serbian/local language version. 1 – Siemens […]
Elsewedy agrees to buy 4 wind farms, 1 SHPP in Greece
Egypt’s Elsewedy Electric, an integrated energy and infrastructure solution provider, has announced entering into a share purchase agreement with R.F. Energy S.A. (a subsidiary of F.G Europe S.A.) to acquire 100% of the share capital of 3 wind energy and 1 hydropower companies in operation in Greece. The total consideration agreed is EUR 55 million, […]
Croatia launches fresh call for co-financing home renewables systems
Croatia’s Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (FZOEU) has issued a fresh invitation to apply for co-financing home renewables systems, offering a total of about EUR 1.49 million in grants and adding solar hot water collectors to the incentives scheme, according to a statement on the fund’s website. In the new round, grants for co-financing […]
Belgrade to invite bids for introducing public bicycle system
The Belgrade city assembly has adopted a decision to launch an international tender for introducing a public bicycle system through a public-private partnership (PPP) project. If everything goes to plan, the first public bicycles could be available in the Serbian capital as early as spring 2020. Belgrade deputy mayor Goran Vesić explained that the public […]
PPC secures EUR 160 million for distribution network upgrade, expansion
Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC) has secured a EUR 160 million loan, backed by a sovereign guarantee, from the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB). The loan will support PPC’s capital expenditure plan concerning the distribution network, the BSTDB said. The proceeds of the loan will be used to finance PPC’s capital expenditures for […]