Banovici power station
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Banovici power station is a proposed 350-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Banovici, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Contents
Location
The map below shows the approximate location where the plant would be built in the city of Banovici.
Background
The project has received permits and approvals for construction, planned for completion in 2018. The total estimated investment value is 584 million euros. It would include development of the Banovici coal mine. RMU Banovici is seeking a strategic partner.[1]
According to Bankwatch, the Bosnian Federal Minister of Environment and Tourism issued an environmental permit in 2012 for the power station which included no limits for air pollution emissions.[2]
In May 2014, Banovici selected 11 qualified bidders out of 13 companies to finance and build the new power plant. By February 2015 RMU Banovici selected four companies for the final round. Three of the bidders are Chinese companies Shanghai Electric Group Co., China Gezhouba Group and Dongfang Electric Corp., while the fourth one is a consortium led by Spain's Abengoa SA, which includes China's Harbin Electric. The best offer will be chosen by the end of 2015. The power plant is expected to be connected to the grid in 2020.[3][4]
In October 2015 Bosnia said it had chosen China's Dongfang Electric Corp to finance and build the 350 MW coal plant. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2016.[5] Financing agreements for the project were also signed between Dongfang and the Chinese industrial and commercial bank (ICBC).[6]
In February 2017 the EU Energy Community ruled Banovici will be considered a new plant under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) Chapter III, and must therefore comply with the stricter emission limit values for plants that enter operation after 1 January 2019, requiring amendments to the permit for the plant issued by the Ministry that did not specify this requirement. The decision came in response to a July 2016 complaint filed by the environmental NGO Ekotim.[7][8]
In December 2017 the Federal Ministry for Spatial Planning in Bosnia-Herzegovina denied Banovići a construction permit for the 350 MW lignite plant, saying key issues such as water supply, coal supply, wastewater, flue gases and ash disposal had not been resolved. A lawsuit challenging the plant's environmental permit from the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, issued in January 2016, is ongoing.[9]
On May 21, 2019, it was reported that the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) had tasked the state-owned power utility EPBiH "to accelerate all activities related to the projects for the construction of new units at existing coal-fired thermal power plants Tuzla (unit 7) and Kakanj (unit 8), as well as the project for the construction of TPP Banovici near the coalmine of the same name."[10]
Project Details
- Sponsor: RMU Banovici (Banovici Brown Coal Mines)
- Parent company:
- Location: Banovici, Tuzla, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Coordinates: 44.4, 18.5333 (approximate)
- Status: Permitted
- Gross Capacity: 350 MW
- Type:
- Projected in service: 2020
- Coal Type: Lignite
- Coal Source: Banovici coal mine
- Source of financing: Chinese industrial and commercial bank (ICBC)
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "Preparation of Construction of Thermal Power Plant Banovići," Sarajevo Times, Dec 1, 2013.
- ↑ "Western Balkans: 'cheap' lignite plants built now will cost heavily later," Bankwatch, updated April 2014.
- ↑ "Four bidders left in race to build 350 MW coal-fired plant in Bosnia" Reuters, Feb 20, 2015.
- ↑ "New Coal Plant to be constructed in Banovici?," Sarajevo Times, Feb 22, 2015.
- ↑ "China's Dongfang to build 350 MW power plant in Bosnia," Reuters Africa, Oct 22, 2015
- ↑ "Bosnia: Chinese Dongfang continues its European energy market development," ESIASEE, July 8, 2016
- ↑ "Campaigners claim legal win against Bosnian coal power push," Climate Home, 16/02/2017
- ↑ "New blow to Bosnia-Herzegovina coal plans as Energy Community requires changes to permit," esiasee, February 21, 2017
- ↑ "Construction permit denied for Banovići coal power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Bankwatch, Dec 15, 2017
- ↑ "Bosnia and Herzegovina: FBiH Government to accelerate TPP Tuzla, Banovici projects," SEE Energy News 21. May 2019