Kostolac

The European Union’s and China’s joint commitment to climate action is tarnished by Chinese support for and the EU’s neglect of coal projects in the Balkans, as a new briefing shows. But it is still not too late to change course.

Smoke signals the coming of a polluted winter in Drmno, Serbia. Bankwatch’s independent air quality measurements show for the first time the alarming levels of dust particles near the Kostolac B power plant.

Two reports by the Serbian Center for Investigative Journalism take stock of the problems surrounding the planned Kostolac B3 lignite power plant, including a recent court decision that cancelled the project's Environmental Impact Assessment.

The possible cancellation of the Serbian government’s decision to construct a new 350 MW unit at the Kostolac B lignite power plant was discussed on June 23 at the national administrative court of Serbia.

Corruption cases continue to haunt Serbia’s coal sector as a new round of arrests last week has shown. They also illustrate how the dependence on coal creates vulnerabilities for Serbia’s energy sector and potentially its financiers, in particular in the aftermath of last year’s floods.

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.

A new unit at the Kostolac coal-fired power plant in Serbia is the first coal project to be considered by the Espoo Convention Implementation Committee for transboundary impacts.