In coal-addicted Bulgaria, EU climate goal faces hurdles

In coal-addicted Bulgaria, EU climate goal faces hurdles

GOLEMO SELO, Bulgaria: With its belching smokestacks, Bulgaria's Bobov Dol coal plant symbolizes the type of industry the EU aims to eliminate - and the hurdles it faces in its green transition. Environmental issues barely made a blip ahead of elections taking place today, while critics fear that €10 billion ($11.8 billion) in EU green transition funds could fall prey to Bulgaria's widespread corruption.

Environmentalists say the 27-nation European Union must phase out of coal by 2030 to meet its climate targets. The bloc aims to slash emissions by 55 percent by then. Eleven EU nations have pledged to phase out coal-powered electricity by 2030. Bulgaria, which emits 4.3 times more greenhouse gases per unit of GDP than the EU average, is not among them.

The country relies heavily on coal to heat homes, with 60 percent of electricity production in winter coming from the pollutant. Bobov Dol has been in operation since the 1970s, employs 850 people and alone accounts for around four percent of Bulgaria's energy output. "We definitely have worries“ about the plant having to shut, said Bobov Dol's CEO Lyubomir Spasov, adding that his aim is to "keep the maximum amount of jobs“.

His priority is keeping the 630-megawatt