Non-governmental environmental organizations Greenpeace, Green Action and Green Istria held a protest in front of the seat of Croatian stateowned power utility HEP, against the company’s decision to extend the operational life of 50 years old coal-fired thermal power plant Plomin 1.
In April, a public hearing on the Expert Approval for obtaining of the environmental permit for 115 MW TPP Plomin 1 from February 2016 has started because its operator HEP wants to extend its lifespan by additional 15 to 20 years.
According to previous permit, TPP Plomin 1 should have been shut down on 1 January 2018 after the commissioning of the new unit C, which was scrapped in the meantime. HEP now wants to continue production at the old unit, commissioned in 1969, but it is not in line with the European directives on industrial emissions. Namely, it is now proposed to install DENOx facilities and desulfurization facilities in order for the plant to meet the EU standards.
Environmental NGOs said that initially TPP Plomin 1 was supposed to be shut down at the end of 2015, but the permit was extended by additional two years. They strongly oppose the proposed modernization of the plant, saying that such procedure is not viable for both environmental and economical reasons.
TPP Plomin is the only coal-fired power plant in the country, which provides about 7 % of electricity production in Croatia. Unit 1 at TPP Plomin has power output of 115 MW, while unit 2 has power output of 210 MW.
