energy

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.

Massive infrastructure for transporting natural gas is shaping up to be a centre piece of the Energy Union put forward by the Juncker Commission. This was also the impression Bankwatch campaigners had at an Energy Union conference in Riga last week.

On February 2, during the annual meeting between civil society and the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Board of Directors, the EIB revealed that the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was among its priority projects for 2015 in the Balkans.[*]

The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, planned to stretch from Greece via Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy, is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, a chain of projects meant to bring natural gas to Europe from the Shah Deniz offshore gas field in Azerbaijan.

The Serbian parliament will on Monday vote on the ratification of a USD 608 million loan agreement from the China ExIm Bank for the construction of the 350 MW Kostolac B3 lignite power plant by Chinese company CMEC.

Serbia's latest addition to its huge debt burden is being presented as a great success, but a new lignite plant is more likely to end up as a weight around our necks as we move towards the EU and apply EU climate policies.

The low-carbon energy ambitions of Polish regions for future EU funding are very diverse with only a few promising cases as an analysis of the Operational Programmes of Polish regions shows.

The European Investment Bank is gearing up for an increased role in spurring growth in Europe as set out by the new Juncker Commission. Yet as Europe’s 2030 climate targets are being undermined by some countries the bank that wants to be a leader in climate action must keep in mind that we can no longer afford growth without sustainability.

Currently presiding over the EU-backed Energy Community's Minsterial Council, Ukraine will likely try to dilute environmental regulations in the Treaty. But the country's ageing coal-fired power plants are troubled by inefficiency and pollution and in dire need of environmental improvements.