coal phaseout
EU allows Romania to delay shutdown of coal plants until end-2029
24 October 2025 - Amid delays in gas power projects, the European Commission approved Romania's request to push back the closure of several coal-fired systems
Renewable electricity should not be subject to EU’s CO2 import tax
23 October 2025 - The European Commission may solve CBAM's unintended effects on renewables in the Western Balkans, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Artur Lorkowski said in an interview with Balkan Green Energy News
Romania’s coal town Turceni starts EUR 380 million green energy transformation
20 October 2025 - Turceni is dependent on the local coal power plant, so the municipal authority is turning to agrivoltaics, energy storage and green hydrogen
Slovenia begins preparations for closure of Velenje coal mine
09 October 2025 - Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob visited the Velenje coal mine to present a draft law on its gradual closure
Turkey starts building solar parks on former coal land
23 September 2025 - After the first two units of 5 MW each, state-owned Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKI) is planning two solar power plants of 14 MW in total
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