Coal power plants in EU shuttering amid jump in expenses from end-June
Exemptions in air pollution limits in the EU are about to be abolished, so owners of older coal-fired power plants will have fewer operational hours allowed. Another option, aside from closing the facilities, is to invest in efficiency and environmental protection, but with little to no guarantee it would be cost effective. While ČEZ is […]
Southeastern Europe may get EUR 10 billion as EU boosts Just Transition Fund plan
The European Commission has proposed to increase the funds intended for the energy transition of coal regions from EUR 7.5 billion to EUR 40 billion. The initial proposal for the economic recovery of the 27-country bloc has been amended to add massive stimulus. The move is part of the newest effort of the Commission, called […]
Region gets EU support to wrap up just transition plans
The European Commission has approved all requests made by 18 member states including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, and Romania, for support in the preparation of their territorial just transition plans, which each country will have to draw up to get access to funding from the Just Transition Mechanism. The Just Transition Mechanism is part of […]
Delaying coal phaseout would be expensive for Bulgaria, Romania and Greece
The drop in market prices of power amid the coronavirus crisis opens the way for a less costly closure of thermal power plants that burn lignite. Postponing the coal phaseout in Balkan states would magnify expenses, according to a study released by the Southeast Europe Energy Transition Network. The COVID-19 pandemic sent market prices of […]
N. Macedonia is first country in Western Balkans mulling coal phaseout before 2030
North Macedonia’s government has approved the Energy Development Strategy until 2040 which makes it the first country in the Western Balkans to consider a coal phaseout before 2030, Bankwatch said in a press release. Two of the strategy’s scenarios entail a coal exit by 2025, with the third delaying the closure of the Bitola lignite […]
Clean energy potential of coal regions in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Slovenia: EU report
In more than half of the 42 coal regions in the European Union, the switch to clean energy can create more jobs than currently exist in the coal sector, finds the latest report of the European Commission. The study of its Joint Research Centre (JRC) on clean energy technologies in coal regions includes seven regions […]
Coal phaseout in Canada – Ex-colleagues helping miners’ job transition
Regional transition centers in coal regions in Canada are being established in order to support the communities during the country’s coal phaseout. The units operated by former coal miners are one of the achievements of the Task Force on Just Transition for Canadian Coal and Power Workers and Communities, introduced to find a solution for […]
11 mayors from region join EU-wide declaration on just transition to post-coal era
A group of 41 mayors from 10 coal regions in 9 European countries including 11 mayors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Romania have signed a declaration supporting a just transition to the post-coal era. The signatory mayors also come from Germany, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic, while two are from non-EU […]