Zelena Akcija (Friends of the Earth Croatia) and Green Istria, with the support of several local residents, have today submitted a legal appeal against the environmental permit for the Plomin C coal power plant, which was issued on 20 September by the Croatian Ministry for the Protection of the Environment and Nature.
Green Istria's President, Dusica Radojic, explains that "The plans to build Plomin C are in conflict with the Istria County Spatial Plan, which clearly defines that any new unit at the site cannot exceed 125 MW and must run on gas, not coal. The environmental assessment also failed to examine any alternatives to coal, which violates the Environmental Protection Act
and the Ordinance on Environmental Impact Assessment".
In addition to the legal issues, the groups are opposing the construction of Plomin C on the grounds that it would increase Croatia's dependence on imported coal, prevent the country from reaching the EU's 2050 greenhouse gas reduction goals and contribute to climate change, whose impacts are increasingly being felt in Croatia itself, with drought-ridden summers and unpredictable winters. Croatian experts have also warned that the plant would be economically unfeasible, not least because of the need to buy greenhouse gas emissions credits under the European Emissions Trading Scheme.
Commenting on the court appeal, Zelena Akcija's President, Bernard Ivcic, said "We are confident that the Administrative Court will accept the validity of our arguments and cancel the environmental permit for this environmentally and economically harmful project. We hope that potential investors understand that legal issues pose a serious risk to Plomin C and that they will prefer to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy in Croatia rather than outmoded coal projects".
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