The Kosovo government legitimises air pollution, gives environmental permission to the Kosova A thermal power plant?

Periscope

In autumn and winter, the capitals also receive a large dish. But not just them. It is the range of extremely high air pollution, which Pristina ranks as the most polluted city on our planet.

The pollution, which continues for decades, comes from two thermal power plants in Obilic, which use coal to produce electricity.

This pollution will continue. But from now on as legitimate pollution with environmental permission from the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. Such a permit, Periskopi sources show, has recently been issued to the Kosova A thermal power plant.

Until today, T C Kosovo had never been granted integrated environmental permission because it has never met any legal and environmental conditions to sign such a permit.

When an economic operator, in this case T C Kosova A, has met all the standards for protecting the environment -- water, air, land -- then it is designed to be equipped with such a permit.

Although the ban on power production by this thermal power plant was envisioned, due to heavy air pollution, the Ministry of Environment did not prevent it from continuing its integrated environmental permission to operate.

Periscopi learns that in the case of TC Kosova A, unless it meets any environmental criteria, even legal procedures have been respected on when an integrated environmental permit should be issued.

The permit, learned, was given in more arbitrary form, and overcoming all decision-making instances for their release.

“has exceeded all decision-making instances. The whole process has followed arbitraryly. It's bypassed by the commission responsible for considering such cases.

And then it didn't go through the relevant and responsible department, which is founded on the Law to issue these kinds of permits, which is the Department of Environment.

All in the end, in no way has it been proven that the conditions have been met to issue this permit for the possibility that the Kosovo thermal power license A” will continue, the Environment Ministry's source Periscope has indicated.

Periscope five weeks ago started questioning at the Ministry's address on this issue, but until today, the ministry has refused to answer.

Even KEKA sources have confirmed that such a permit for TC Kosova A has been granted by the Ministry of Environment.

But, in the official, in writing, they said the Ministry of Environment has set a two-year term because, according to them, the application review is under way.

<x0) 03 L-43, KEK has already applied to the Ministry of Environment for integrated environmental permission (also for operating TB Kosova A).

While the application is under way, MMPHI has set a two-year deadline (by the end of September 2023) within which the compliance plan must be approved with strict deadlines, with the goal of achieving local and EU environmental standards.

The moment the compliance plan is harmonised by the two sides and approved by the MMPHI, the KEK is obliged to apply the same as precisely”, KEK's response to Periscope is said.

Periscop has also called for answers from the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE), but neither has this institution, which is licensed by electrical power designers, returned.

However, on the website of ZEREA, there is the announcement of the board hearing of this institution, where the decision was made to continue the license to produce electricity for T was made C Kosova A.

The decision to license Kosovo A has been made based on the decision of the Ministry of Environment and Planning”, confirmed in the announcement by the second session of the ZRECHA Board, held on October 4th 2021.

It remains unclear why all this haste to equip T C Kosovo A with such permission, since KEKU has been operating this way for years.

Although Kosovo desperately needs electricity sources, what makes it mysterious to give such a permit is that while the Kurti government is shutting down all alternative energy sources, which do not cause pollution to the ambient, it is providing with a greater license to become an environmentr, in the country and the continent.

Meanwhile, the government has sponsored all of the licenses of hydropower and other renewable resources, and if all policies are promoted in support of the quality of the environment, this decision is emerging to be different, because Kosovo A is the main environmental pollutor in the country.

The Energy Regulatory Office itself, which recently licensed Kosovo A, had earlier banned energy production in three hydropower plants at the decan's mouth.

A few days ago it was announced that a French company, which planned to invest about 110m euros in a wind energy project in the municipality of Vushtrri, left Kosovo. The French company moved its investment to neighbouring Macedonia.

Likewise, media close to Vetevendosje and Kurti Government have never stopped the campaign of attacks against all energy producers with renewable resources, including solar sources.

With the silent fight against renewable energy resources and the decision on integrated environmental permits for Kosovo A, Kurti Government is legitimising and contributing to air pollution in Kosovo./ P ERISCOPI/