High dust emissions and low efficiency levels pose serious risks to Montenegro lignite project, new analysis shows

Podgorica, Montenegro -- Failure to comply with the latest EU pollution standards poses serious risks for the planned 220 MW Pljevlja II lignite-fired power plant in Montenegro [1], according to an analysis [2] published today by NGOs CEE Bankwatch Network and Green Home. The research examines environmental data published in July [3] by the Montenegro government on the seven preliminary bids received for the project from Chinese and European companies [4] and finds that:

• Only one of the offers is in compliance with the EU Industrial Emissions Directive for dust emissions.
• None of the offers reach the efficiency levels associated with EU Best Available Techniques.
• These weaknesses present high economic risks for the project due to additional costs to ensure compliance once the Industrial Emissions Directive becomes binding in Montenegro [5].

“EU accession countries like Montenegro risk stacking up extra costs for themselves if they build power plants that don't comply with EU pollution legislation, as they will soon have to refit them”, commented CEE Bankwatch's research co-ordinator Pippa Gallop. “EU pollution legislation is evolving rapidly and accession countries have to run fast to keep up. Any new planned energy installations built now need to take this into account”, she added.

As well as failing to comply with EU standards, none of the offers is in line with the new pollution standards for new coal plants in China. This means that all the companies – including the European ones - are offering technology in Montenegro which they would not be allowed to construct in China.

“The Montenegro government has so far failed to react to the fact that it the preliminary offers for Pljevlja II are environmentally substandard, and looks set to allow the country to become a dumping ground for second-rate lignite technology”, commented Jelena Marojevic of Green Home.

“We need investment into our energy sector, but this must focus on cutting energy wastage and developing the country's wind, solar and biomass potential, not building more dirty coal plants”, she added.

Contacts:

Pippa Gallop, Research co-ordinator
CEE Bankwatch Network
pippa.gallop at bankwatch.org
Tel.: +385 99 755 97 87

Jelena Marojevic-Galic, Programme director
NGO Green Home, Montenegro
jelena.marojevic at greenhome.co.me
Tel.: +382 67860220

Notes for editors:

[1] Pljevlja II is planned in Montenegro's northernmost and most polluted city, Pljevlja. It is expected to have a capacity of around 220 MW, and should be constructed at the same site as the existing 210 MW Pljevlja plant and use lignite from nearby mines.

[2] The analysis is online at:
http://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/Pljevlja-inadequate-standards.pdf

[3] The data was published (in Montenegrin only) at:
http://www.gov.me/sjednice_vlade/28, the first document in the table

[4] The companies which have submitted preliminary bids are:
- China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Company (CGGC)
- Istroenergo Group IEG/SES Tlmace, Slovakia
- Skoda Praha, Czech Republic,

- China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC)
- China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd., CNEEC
- Powerchina - Hubei Electric Power Survey & Design Institute

- China Environmental Energy Holdings CO. LTD. (CEE HOLDINGS)

[5] The Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU is not yet binding in Montenegro, however it is an obligation for EU accession and Chapter III of the Directive has been proposed for adoption by the Parties of the Energy Community Treaty, of which Montenegro is a part. The proposal will be discussed at the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community on 24 October this year in Belgrade and would have to be adopted from 1 January 2018 for new plants, and by 1 January 2022 at the latest for existing plants. Even if the proposal is not finally adopted at the meeting, Montenegro will still have to comply with the legislation some time in the next few years as part of its accession requirements.