No-one will 'freeze to death' if the planned lignite-fired power plant in Kosovo does not receive support from multilateral development banks, but if it does, low-income households may well end up choosing between electricity and food. How can an institution, whose very mission is to end poverty, justify this project?
A report being presented today analyses the process with which 7000 are to be resettled for the Kosovo lignite mine and concludes that the World Bank-financed process does not comply with the bank's own standards and is plagued by a slew of other weaknesses.
Ideas about the construction of a new lignite power plant in Kosovo have existed since the end of the 1980s, and even the current Kosova e Re proposal – scaled down to 600 MW from the original 2100 MW – has been around since 2009. It is being touted by the Kosovo government, the World Bank, USAID and the European Commission among others as the only realistic option to replace the ageing and heavily polluting Kosovo A power plant.
When it comes to Kosovo's energy future, institution after institution has been putting most of its eggs in a 'new lignite' basket while some very reasonable alternative investment options seem to fall by the wayside.
Amid increasing public outcry over electricity prices and the privatisation of the KEDS distribution company, KOSID, an industrious NGO coalition from Kosovo has called for the dismissal of Besim Beqaj, the country's Minster for Economic Development.
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