The shutdown of the coal sector and its exclusion from the energy mix, which is happening in the European Union (EU), is also expected in Montenegro, so it is necessary to approach the process of planning economic diversification in Pljevlja as soon as possible, Eko-team announced.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) said that it is necessary to assess the social benefits of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant and Coal Mine for the local and national economy, and what are the costs caused by their work, including environmental and health protection costs .
Only then, as they believe, should one assess how much longer the survival of the coal sector is justified in Montenegro.
"The shutdown of the coal sector and its exclusion from the energy mix, which is already happening in the EU, is also expected in our country, so it is necessary to approach the planning process of economic diversification in Pljevlja as soon as possible, which will primarily affect local development and enable a fair energy transition ", it is stated in the statement of the Eco-team.
From that NGO, bearing in mind the challenge that the Ministry of Capital Investments is currently facing when it comes to the further operation of the thermal energy complex in Pljevlja, they called on the new Government to approach the solution of that challenge carefully and cautiously to make a decision on the further operation of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant.
As they reminded, the Energy Community (EC) expressed concern in the last Implementation Report for last year that Montenegro will not comply with the provisions of the so-called opt-out regime in which the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant is located and that after reaching the limit of 20 thousand hours the plant will not stop because of.
"The EC Secretariat points out that harmonizing plants with emission limit values for new plants, according to the Industrial Emissions Directive, must be a priority. Therefore, the confidence of the Electric Power Company (EPCG) that the EC will approve the further operation of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant is surprising, because the role of the EC is precisely to ensure the implementation of directives, including the implementation of penal procedures in case of their violation", explained representatives of the Eco-team.
They stated that the example of Ukraine, which is cited as one of the cases where the EC made concessions, cannot be called a new decision, but is actually a solution from 2014 for a situation that is not even similar to the situation in which Montenegro currently finds itself.
"In 2014, Ukraine received an additional number of hours for the operation of thermal power plants due to the threat of energy supply, the condition and poor equipment of about 140 coal-fired plants that Ukraine has and the large investments that ecological adaptation of these plants would require in such a short period of time," they reminded from Eco-team.
The NGO said that they are aware that the final decision and position on the continuation of the further use of coal, and in general the survival of that sector in Montenegro, should be given by the Government.
"At the same time, we cannot help but look back at the ecological reconstruction project of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant, for which the feasibility study was never published and whose conceptual solution was declared a state secret." We call on the Government and the Ministry to request all the mentioned studies from EPCG and analyze them in detail before the final decision on support for this project," the statement added.
In the Eco-team, they believe that this is a very significant cross-sectoral problem, the solution of which should be approached in this way.
"The pollution that is currently emitted from the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant makes this city one of the most polluted in Europe. The existing trend has been repeated for decades, and the result is a degraded environment, endangered health and increased mortality of the population caused by poor air quality. On the other hand, the current importance of the coal sector in Pljevlje in terms of employment of the local population is clear," the announcement concludes.
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