Balkans

Small is (not always) beautiful: small hydro development in the Western Balkans

This blog first appeared on Balkan Green Energy News

Tags: Balkans hydropower Western Balkans Balkans

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Balkans

Under heavy skies: dire results from first independent pollution monitoring in Montenegro

It was ten in the evening on 17 December when my colleague and I arrived in Pljevlja, Montenegro. Although we could feel the smell of burnt coal already while driving there, the minute we set foot out of the car, the air was stifling. “This place reminds me of childhood, it smells like in your grandparents’ house when the chimney was stuffed and all the smoke came inside. Only this is outside", he said, with a scarf pulled over his nose.

Tags: Balkans coal Montenegro Pljevlja Balkans

Theme: Energy & climate, Balkans

Infographic: The great coal jobs fraud

Promises for new jobs in south-east Europe’s coal sector are exaggerated. Hardly any coal operations across the region are economically viable, and as a result many coal workers, especially in the mines, are set to lose their jobs, even if the plans for countless new power plants materialise. This infographic shows labour productivity in mines across the region and compares them with those of other countries.

Study: Development Banks Financing HPP Projects at Protected Sites in Balkans

December 14, 2015

Source: Simona Drevenšek, Energetika-Net

A wave of hydropower development fuelled by European public funding and EU companies is endangering pristine river environments in the Balkans, finds a new study released last Friday by the Central and Eastern European (CEE) Bankwatch Network.

Institution: Commercial banks, EBRD, EIB, World Bank Group

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: Balkans, hydropower, protected areas, Balkans

Major banks put up nearly €1bn for controversial Balkan dams, says report

December 11, 2015

Source: Arthur Neslen, The Guardian

Multilateral development banks are funding a roll out of hydropower projects in national parks, world heritage sites and conservation zones across the Balkans

International banks have ploughed hundreds of millions of euros into a wave of hydropower projects sweeping across many pristine national parks and environmentally-protected regions in the Balkans, according to a new report.

Institution: Commercial banks, EBRD, EIB

Theme: Balkans

Tags: Balkans, hydropower, rivers, Balkans

By the numbers: where will energy come from in the western Balkans?

Today we've published a new report analysing future energy trends in countries of the western Balkans.

From a robust dataset we researched together with the University of Groningen and the consultancy 'The Advisory House', we've pulled out a couple of illustrations.

Tags: Balkans coal data energy energy exports infographic stranded assets study Balkans EU neighbourhood

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts

NGOs demand transparency in negotiations over Plomin C coal project in Croatia

Croatian electricity company HEP on Monday announced that it had signed an exclusivity agreement to conduct further negotiations with Japan's Marubeni - a company which has been implicated in several corruption scandals.

Tags: Balkans coal Marubeni Plomin C Balkans EU

Theme: Transport, Development

[Campaign update] Ekotim files lawsuit on poor quality environmental permit for Banovici thermal power plant

Bosnia and Herzegovina NGO Ekotim has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism in relation to an addendum to the environmental permit for the planned 300 MW Banovici lignite power plant near Tuzla.

Tags: Balkans BiH coal Tuzla Balkans EU neighbourhood

Institution: Chinese investors

Theme: Energy & climate

Development banks energy investments jeopardise the ability of Balkan accession countries to meet EU energy and climate targets, says new report

June 25, 2013

Brussels, Belgium – Heavy investments in fossil fuels by international financial institutions (IFIs) in the Western Balkans are hindering these countries’ compliance with EU accession requirements, finds a new report - “Invest in Haste, Repent at Leisure” - from civil society organizations CEE Bankwatch Network, SEE Change Net and WWF, created as part of the SEE SEP (South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy) programme.

Institution: EBRD, EIB, World Bank Group

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: Balkans, energypolicy