coal phaseout
Romania risks blackouts if it shuts coal plants as scheduled
19 September 2025 - Minister of Energy Bogdan Ivan claims that energy poverty or even blackouts could hit Romania if it proceeds with the closure of coal plants
Race against time to secure EU funding for waste-to-energy plants in Greece
18 September 2025 - Hostile public reactions and opposition by municipal authorities threaten to derail Greece's efforts to build six waste-to-energy plants
Bulgarian coal plant mulls replacing boiler with molten salt battery
15 September 2025 - The operator of the AES Maritsa Iztok 1 coal plant is interested in replacing one of its boilers with a molten salt reactor
Environmentalists warn EU that Bulgaria ignores coal plants breaching pollution rules
09 September 2025 - Greenpeace Bulgaria and Za Zemiata wrote a complaint to the European Commission as the authorities are ignoring environmental breaches at four coal plants
Climate won’t suffer if Romanian coal power plants keep running – energy minister
01 September 2025 - The Romanian government is hoping to postpone the coal-fired power plant closures envisaged under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
CE Oltenia to set up subsidiary to take over coal power plants slated for closure
25 August 2025 - CE Oltenia’s “lignite subsidiary” is envisaged under a restructuring and decarbonization plan approved by the European Commission.
Greek coal region of Megalopolis opens new chapter after lignite
08 August 2025 - Megalopolis, in the Peloponnese peninsula, is one of Greece's two coal regions, along with Western Macedonia
Kragujevac heating plant begins ash removal from disposal site in city center
06 August 2025 - The city of Kragujevac in Serbia has begun removing ash from an uncovered disposal site that has been polluting air and soil for years.
Serbia adopts Just Energy Transition Plan until 2030
01 August 2025 - Serbia now has a Just Energy Transition Plan until 2030, with suggestions how to mitigate of the impact of reducing fossil fuel use
Project underway for 81 MW solar park on coal mine in Montenegro
24 July 2025 - The Government of Montenegro gave a provisional green light for a solar power plant of 81.1 MW in peak capacity on coal land in Pljevlja
Solar beats nuclear in June, becoming EU’s biggest electricity source for first time
10 July 2025 - Solar was the EU’s largest source of electricity for the first time in June. Records for photovoltaics and wind rolled in in May and June
Bulgaria’s TPP Maritsa East 2 coal plant posts EUR 52 million loss for 2024
07 July 2025 - Even with a quota for the regulated electricity market in Bulgaria, low electricity prices pushed TPP Maritsa East 2 into a loss last year
Open call for green hydrogen high-efficiency CHP pilot plant in northern Greece
04 July 2025 - The Greek government has opened a call for a pilot CHP unit in Western Macedonia that would run on green hydrogen
Slovenia’s sole coal-fired power plant Šoštanj to keep main unit offline until fall
04 July 2025 - The 600 MW unit at Šoštanj will not be restarted until the end of September, when demand for heat is set to rise.
Montenegro publishes NECP for public consultation – sole coal plant planned for shutdown in 2041
30 June 2025 - The retirement of the Pljevlja coal plant is planned for 2041, but it depends on a just transition and supply security, the draft NECP reads
Ireland ends coal use – Spain, Italy, Greece set to follow
24 June 2025 - The last coal plants in several countries in the European Union are operating only barely or occasionally