The 225 MWe Pljevlja I lignite power plant has only one unit, and thus could not be subject to a National Emissions Reduction Plan. Since the plant generates around 40 per cent of Montenegro’s electricity, depending on the year, closing it looked unattractive. Therefore, the ‘opt-out’ option was chosen, in which Pljevlja I would be able to operate for a total of 20,000 hours between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2023. After that, it either has to close or to undergo a retrofit that would bring it into compliance with emission limit values for new plants, not existing ones. 

But Pljevlja I’s operating hours at the end of 2020 were already at 21,003 breaching, therefore, the opt-out regime and the compliance with LCPD. In 2021, the plant operated for 6,450 hours, and in 2022 it worked for 6,949 more, and the same in 2023, totalling over 35,000 hours of operation since 2018, all without any investments in emissions reductions.

For this, in April 2021, the Energy Community Secretariat opened an infringement case against Montenegro, and in February 2023 it issued a reasoned opinion, followed by a reasoned request to the Ministerial Council in July 2023. An opinion from the Energy Community Advisory Committee is currently pending before the Ministerial Council can take a decision to confirm the breach of Treaty.

During the thousands of hours of illegal operation in 2023, the plant continued to pollute significantly, by emitting 44,017 tonnes of SO2, 3,982 tonnes of NOx and 1130 tonnes of dust – double than in 2022.