New Kosovo <x0 power plant” finalised within week

Within weeks, the Government of Kosovo is expected to sign the contract with the American company “ContourGlobal” for the construction of the thermal power plant “New Kosovo”, a larger interjectors in the country.
Minister of Economic Development in the Government of Kosovo Valdrin Luka told Radio Europe Free that during this week all processes around the “New Kosovo thermal power plant project are expected to be completed.
“Executive of the Contour Global company will be in Kosovo this week to discuss the final contract. In the coming days, there will be intensive negotiations between the American company and the Government of Kosovo. If everything goes according to plan and the goals that we want to achieve as Government has been through investments, I believe signing the contract is a matter of weeks”, Luka says.
During this week, Luka has also announced to Kosovo that a World Bank delegation will also be visiting, which will see some technical details, so that, as Luka says, the New Kosovo “thermal power plant project, receives the World Bank's support.
Preparations for the construction of the new thermal power plant, with a generation capacity initially of 2,100 megawatts, had begun since 2005. But after the changes that have been made over the years, this thermal power plant is expected to be built with a generation capacity of about 500 megawatts.
In 2015, authorities in Kosovo had chosen the Contour Global bidder, headquartered in the United States, as the winning company for the construction of this thermal power plant.
New Kosovo thermal power plant “” is meant to be built near the current thermal power plant “Kosovo B” in Obilic. While the financial value of this project is expected to reach around one billion euros.
Some civil society representatives continue to oppose the construction of the “New Kosovo”, calling it an untransparent and harmful project for the environment and for citizens.
The Paka Consorture from the Kosovar Consortium of Energy (KOSID), tells Radio Free Europe that this project, except that it has been prolonged, has also been carried out with irregularities.
We think this process is hasty, it's not transparent as far as the tendering process is concerned, and still we as civil society and citizens do not know what it is negotiating. We don't even have accurate data on technology that will be used. On the other hand, the number of free jobs, investments and costs we will face as a state has not been disclosed by”, Puka says.
Kosovo has more than 10 billion tons of linen and as such is the fifth country in the world for the amount of this resources. The coal that burns at the “thermal power plant Kosovo A” and “Kosovo B” serves as the main source for electricity production for the entire country.
But at the same time these thermal power plants are considered the biggest environmental pollutants in Kosovo.
In view of this, Puka says Kosovo has other options for electricity production and is not dependent on the production of electricity from coal.
The Kosovo air problems are obvious, and this is affecting public health. We do not need to continue to be dependent on thermal power plants, until Kosovo has been able to pursue a greener and more stable strategy in terms of energy, considering the potential potential of renewable energy sources, where Kosovo has quite potential”, Puka says.
With the construction of the new thermal power plant, authorities in Kosovo have said Kosovo would make a long-term and stable solution with electricity.