Plomin power station

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Plomin power station is an operating power station of at least 217-megawatts (MW) in Plomin, Istra, Croatia with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Plomin power station	Plomin, Istra, Croatia	45.136764, 14.162702 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Phase A, Phase B: 45.136764, 14.162702
• Phase C: 45.136389, 14.165

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year
Phase A	mothballed	coal: bituminous	125	subcritical	1969
Phase B	operating	coal: bituminous	217	subcritical	2000
Phase C	cancelled	coal: bituminous	500	ultra-supercritical	2016

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Phase A	HEP-Proizvodnja doo [100%]	Hrvatska elektroprivreda dd [100.0%]
Phase B	TE Plomin doo [100%]	Hrvatska elektroprivreda dd
Phase C	HEP-Proizvodnja doo [100%]	Hrvatska elektroprivreda dd [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): imported

Financing

• Source of financing: Crédit Agricole (advisory services)

Background on existing plant

The first generating unit, referred to as Plomin 1 or A, is a 125 MW unit. It was commissioned in 1969. The second generating unit, referred to as Plomin 2 or B, is a 210 megawatt unit which was commissioned in 2000.

Ownership

The Plomin 1 plant is owned and operated by the Croatian electricity company HEP Proizvodnja. The Plomin 2 plant is owned by TE Plomin, a 50:50 joint venture between HEP Proizvodnja and RWE Power. The plant was operated and maintained by HEP under a long-term contract with TE Plomin. In 2015 RWE exited the partnership of Plomin 2. In August, 2017, the company TE Plomin doo was merged with HEP.

Plomin 1 and Plomin 2

Plomin 1 coal plant closed in 2017 due to a fire, the same year it was supposed to comply with EU pollution control regulations or to close. In late 2017 the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy announced that the parent company HEP had applied for an extension of the plant’s environmental permit and that it plans to extend the plant’s lifetime for another 15 to 20 years, without a new environmental impact assessment. Croatian environmental groups Zelena akcija, Zelena Istra and Greenpeace Croatia are challenging the application. Plomin 1 has been offline since then, as of July 2022 and June 2023.

In 2022, the energy crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s ban on Russian coal and oil, prompted HEP to look for solutions to get Plomin 1 back online. In 2022, HEP selected the consortium of Kemokop VPC GmbH from Croatia and Goudini International Advisory from Germany to determine the best available techniques (BAT) for the use of alternative fuels – gas, biomass and waste at the defunct unit. The outcome was not known, as of June 2023.

Plomin 2 remains operational, using imported bituminous coal. Plomin 2 has been equipped with a flue gas desulfurization plant since 2000. The device for removing nitrogen oxides from flue gases was completed and put into operation in 2017. Following modernization in 2017, capacity of the unit was increased from 210 MW to 217 MW.

Coal Phase Out

In November 2021 at COP26 meeting Croatia vowed to end use of coal by 2033. It will phase out its only coal plant Plomin, which is responsible for almost 40% of HEPs CO2 emissions. Plomin 2 was supposed to work until 2040.

Expansion

In 2012, HEP was proposing a new 500MW unit to replace the aging Plomin 1 plant. Plomin C was originally presented as a reconstruction of the Plomin A Power Plant, even though its capacity was planned to be four times higher. This had generated discussions on the legality of the project among local and international groups, as well as from local officials. In 2012, the project was planned to be completed by the end of 2018.

In September 2012 HEP announced that it had received seven expressions of interest for the construction and operation of the proposed plant. While RWE would have been a prime candidate, RWE announced that it had decided not to submit an expression of interest. The company stated that this decision "was mainly founded by adjustments in RWE’s strategy regarding the structure of its European power plant portfolio and current capital constraints ... RWE expressed its interest to support the project as owner’s engineer of HEP, by operation and maintenance of the plant and with regard to fuel procurement and power sales." HEP was planning to finalise the preferred project partner by mid-March 2013.

On the same day that the expressions of interest closed in September 2012, the Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic endorsed the project as being important as Croatia "imports HRK 15 billion worth of electricity a year, which is wasteful."

On May 1, 2014, the Croatian government reported that three consortia had submitted bids to be strategic partners. The government could not name the companies involved due to the tender rules, but local media reported that the consortia consist of Marubeni and Alstom; Daewoo and Croatian pension funds; and Edison and Samsung.

In 2015 it was reported that Alstom was the planned contractor for Plomin C, along with the Japanese consortium leader Marubeni.

In February 2016 Croatia's environment minister said the country was unlikely to build the plant, saying Croatia needed a new energy strategy in line with the EU plans on boosting renewables and reducing CO2 emissions. The minister was part of the centre-right government that took office in January 2016 and has favoured renewable power, although the party later said they did not want to drop Plomin C but instead adjust it to be acceptable to the European Commission.

In March 2016 Croatian state-owned HEP and Japan's Marubeni said they were seeking contracts for the construction and management of the Plomin C plant, estimated at 800 million euro (US$887.9 million).

However in June 2016 the Croatian Minister for Economy, Tomislav Panenić, said the project had been stopped. According to Bankwatch: "the announcement came after months of media reports that the European Commission considered the project to involve incompatible state aid due to the involvement of heavily politicized state electricity company HEP."

Opposition

The proposed plant was opposed by environmentalists. The Croatian environmental group, Zelena akcija (Green Action) has objected to the government's support for the project. It argued that the Croatia's Physical Planning Strategy stated that only a 125 MW gas power plant could be built at the site but that the Construction and Physical Planning Ministry had designated the Plomin C expansion as the "reconstruction of the complex Plomin facility." Toni Vidan from Green Action warned that the Ministry's decision set a dangerous precedent "which any investor can abuse and completely sidestep existing restrictions in physical planning documents."

In mid-June 2012 the Croatian Ministry of Spatial Planning and Construction approved HEP's Environmental Impact Assessment on the project. Bernard Ivcic, the President of Zelena akcija which is also the Croatian affiliate of Friends of the Earth, wrote that:

"The spatial plan for Istria county, where the plant would be situated, says that if a new unit is built at Plomin, the total capacity of the units together must not exceed 335 MW. As the existing Plomin II unit has a capacity of 210 MW and the 120 MW Plomin I plant is to be closed, this means that any new plant at the site cannot have a capacity larger than 125 MW. The spatial plan further states that any third unit at Plomin must run on gas, not coal."

"While the first two points are left aside due to lack of binding legal obligations and a clear sustainable long-term vision for Croatia's energy system, the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Construction has a clear duty to point out the last issue through its representative on the EIA commission, but it has not."

Ivcic also wrote that "building one plant of 500 MW means that the country will be unable to meet EU 2050 climate goals of 80-95 percent CO2 reductions compared to 1990, and will stifle the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency."

The Croatian Green Party, Zelena Lista, has also expressed opposition to the project.

In March 2015 a local referendum resulted in 94% of respondents voting “No” to Plomin C.

State aid and EU rules

According to a 2014 legal analysis by Hungary's Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA), HEP's planned long-term power purchase agreement - in which HEP will commit to buying at least 50% of electricity from the planned Plomin C power plant for 20-30 years - is likely illegal under EU state aid rules, as it would be considered state aid, and state aid provided to economic actors is generally illegal in the EU, although particular aid is allowed in certain circumstances. In February 2016 the newly elected ruling party said it wanted to adjust plans for Plomin C so that it would be acceptable to the European Commission.

Legal/PR advisors

The global legal and PR firm Hunton & Williams announced in August 2012 that it had been appointed to "advise on an international tender for the design, engineering, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of" the Plomin C project. The company stated that Kirk Lovric and Ryan Ketchum will be advising HEP from the firm's London office. The company boasted that the project was the latest in a string of work on coal-power projects in Europe.

Cost and financing

The cost of Plomin C was estimated at EUR 800 million in 2015. The project was getting advisory services from French private bank Crédit Agricole, despite the bank's May 2015 decision to both end finance for new coal mining projects and stop all support to specialized mining companies. In September 2015 the bank announced its new policy ruling out finance for coal power plants in high-income countries including Croatia.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.