New plans to hook the Western Balkans on gas will make the region's energy transition even harder

The document analyzes plans for €3.5 billion in new gas-fired power plants, pipelines, and LNG terminals in the Western Balkans. It argues that these projects, promoted by EU and U.S. institutions, would create a dependency on volatile gas markets and risk creating stranded assets, contradicting the region's carbon-neutral goals and the EU's 2050 targets.

• There are plans for €3.5 billion in new gas infrastructure in the Western Balkans, including gas-fired power plants, pipelines, and LNG import terminals. This buildout would significantly increase the region's dependency on gas for electricity, adding 2,442 MW of gas-fired capacity to a region that currently has only 779 MW.
• The proposed infrastructure includes 2,715 kilometers of new gas pipelines to bring gas from Greece, Croatia, and other neighbors, as well as the region's first two LNG import terminals in Albania and Montenegro, which would provide over 0.5 bcm of regasification capacity.
• The push for gas integration is viewed as counterintuitive because most Western Balkan countries do not rely heavily on gas. In 2021, the region's gas consumption was only 3.7 bcm, which is 4% of Germany's consumption for the same year.
• New gas projects may conflict with the IPCC and IEA net-zero scenarios, which call for gas consumption to peak in the 2020s. Consequently, these investments could result in billions of euros in stranded assets and conflict with the 2050 carbon-neutral target agreed upon by Western Balkan leaders at the November 2020 Sofia Summit.
• EU and U.S. institutions have actively promoted the gas buildout. This includes EU-funded gasification studies in Kosovo and a US$200 million grant offer from the Millennium Challenge Corporation for a pipeline from North Macedonia to Kosovo (which Kosovo shelved in 2021). USAID also published a 2022 study suggesting Southeast Europe needs US$50 billion in new gas-fired power plant investments by 2030.
• The region's energy transition is further complicated by the Energy Community Treaty and the EU's upcoming carbon border adjustment mechanism, which will penalize fossil electricity exporters like Bosnia and Herzegovina.

APA

Global Energy Monitor (2023). New plans to hook the Western Balkans on gas will make the region's energy transition even harder. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-Bankwatch-W-Balkans-Briefing-1_11.pdf

Chicago

Global Energy Monitor. New plans to hook the Western Balkans on gas will make the region's energy transition even harder. 2023. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-Bankwatch-W-Balkans-Briefing-1_11.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Energy Monitor |title=New plans to hook the Western Balkans on gas will make the region's energy transition even harder |date=March 2023 |url=https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-Bankwatch-W-Balkans-Briefing-1_11.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalenergymonitor2023new, author = {{Global Energy Monitor}}, title = {{New plans to hook the Western Balkans on gas will make the region's energy transition even harder}}, institution = {Global Energy Monitor}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-Bankwatch-W-Balkans-Briefing-1_11.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }