(ANSA-AFP) - BELGRADE, 16 LUG - Western Balkans countries
have enough prospective solar and wind capacity to skip
gas-fired power plants in their clean energy transitions, a
report said on Tuesday. The six Western Balkan nations
-- Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North
Macedonia and Serbia -- now produce electricity primarily from
coal and hydropower.
"If these projects become operational, then they could
replace all present and future gas power capacity in the
region". Leapfrogging gas would save over nine billion euros
($9.8 billion) in energy costs and 87 percent of the region's
CO2 emissions in 2022, it said. Serbia currently has the largest
share of operating and prospective utility-scale solar and wind
capacity in the region, respectively, 29 and 47 percent. The
report warned that the region's operating utility-scale solar
and wind capacity accounts for just seven percent of the
regional electricity mix. Also, only six percent of prospective
capacity is under construction and likely to become operational,
it said. "Choosing renewables is a greener move that makes
economic sense," Zhanaiym Kozybay, co-author of the report, said
in a statement but warned that "more political will is needed
domestically". Also, the European Union, which all six countries
aspire to join, and the US "should champion the region's clean
energy potential rather than backing expensive, polluting gas",
Kozybay said. bur-ljv/gv
/ (ANSA-AFP).
Western Balkans can skip gas in clean energy transition: report
6 countries now produce electricity from coal and hydropower