Four in five EU coal power plants unprofitable: Greece’s PPC faces EUR 596 million loss, Romania’s CE Oltenia EUR 567 million
Four in five EU coal power plants are unprofitable and utilities could lose EUR 6.6 billion this year alone, finds a new report from financial think-tank Carbon Tracker. Looking at the region, Greek utility PPC could lose EUR 596 million this year, Romanian utilities could lose EUR 567 with CE Oltenia alone facing losses of […]
Greece seeks to phase out coal by 2028, Ptolemaida V prospects unclear
Greece will adopt a new national energy and climate plan by the end of 2019 that will envisage the shutdown of all coal power plants in Greece by 2028, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019. The plan will also call for expanding the share of renewables to 35% by […]
Greece to start shutting down coal power plants
A business plan being drafted by the management of majority state-owned Public Power Corporation (PPC) includes a “sweeping divestment” of its coal power plants in Greece, Ekathimerini writes. The plan to start shutting down PPC’s coal-fired power plants, which is expected to be ready by mid-November, is meant to be factored into the structural changes […]
Nearly 200 families hit by pollution from Veliki Crljeni open-pit coal mine
Residents of Veliki Crljeni, a suburban settlement only 50 kilometers from the center of Belgrade, again wrote to the Serbian President and the Prime Minister over the past week, demanding that institutions and the state, the owner of power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), resolve the pollution problem that has been plaguing them for more than […]
Romania mulls carbon price compensation scheme
The Romanian government is considering introducing a scheme for offsetting the cost of the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS), but details have not yet been announced, local media reported. The scheme would be available to all companies that are obliged to hold emission allowances. The price of these certificates has increased sharply in the […]
World Environment Day: Air pollution causes nearly 5,000 premature deaths in 19 Western Balkan cities
Air pollution is directly responsible for up to one in five premature deaths in 19 Western Balkan cities, suggest preliminary results from a report led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment). Today is World Environment Day, the UN’ most important day for celebrating the environment, and the theme to the 2019 edition is […]
Ministers on region’s energy transition: Countries have right to choose their own energy mix
Energy, economy, and foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Republika Srpska (an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Serbia believe that energy knows no borders, which requires regional cooperation, while they are adamant that every country has the right to determine its own energy mix. According to the ministers, who spoke at the Summit […]
Energy Community Contracting Parties pour EUR 2.4 billion annually into coal power plants, mines
The Energy Community Contracting Parties support electricity generated from coal with some EUR 2.4 billion in direct and certain types of indirect subsidies annually, the preliminary results of the Energy Community Secretariat’s study reveal. The study concludes that with the elimination of state aid via direct subsidies to coal and introduction of a carbon price, […]