Coal

Ljubljana – A round table debate on Tuesday heard that, while coal phase-out is inevitable, it should be made sure that power supply is not threatened as Slovenia is making the relevant transition. The participants agreed that the year of closure of the sole operational coal mine in Velenje should be set in consensus of all stakeholders.

Ljubljana/Šoštanj/Velenje – Focus has welcomed the government’s proposal to phase out coal in Slovenia by 2033, saying this is the most sensible decision given the three potential scenarios to restructure Slovenia’s two coal regions. Still, it believes that given the Paris Agreement, Slovenia should drop coal by 2030, just like 14 other EU members.

Ljubljana, 15 March – The Infrastructure Ministry has launched a public consultation on the draft national strategy to phase out coal and restructure the country’s two coal regions. The document applies to Savinja-Šalek, which has coal-fired power station TEŠ and a coal mine, and to Zasavje, where there are no longer any active mines or thermal plants.

Every year, thousands of people die prematurely in Serbia due to the quality of the air they breathe. Yet the country is still in breach of obligations to control harmful emissions from its coal-fired power plants.

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Balkan Countries Fear EU Green Deal Could Leave Them Further Behind

Green Dreams Splutter in Central and Southeast Europe

The Western Balkans Green Centre will initially make available around 1.2 million euros to drive green investments in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to help Bulgaria decarbonize its emission-intensive economy, its vice president said.

A shift from fossil fuels would pose a serious challenge to the Balkan country, which depends on coal-fired electricity plants.

Bulgaria does not give up its coal plants, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on February 24 after a meeting with the trade unions, which discussed the conditions under which the country would accept the so-called "Green Deal" of the European Commission for a carbon-free economy.

Greece's biggest oil refiner, Hellenic Petroleum, said on Monday it will finance and operate a 204 megawatt solar energy plant in northern Greece to tap into the country's shift from coal to renewables.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the government's determination to phase out lignite plans as part of the National Plan for Energy and Climate at a meeting with Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and ministry officials .

A group of Greek and US experts has sent the Energy Ministry an alternative proposal regarding the operation of Public Power Corporation's efficient lignite-powered units, such as Ptolemaida 5, beyond the termination deadline of 2028 that the National Plan for Energy and the Climate provides for.