Air pollution in Bitola, North Macedonia

Problems

• Air pollution in Bitola

  The REK Bitola mining and power complex in North Macedonia is one of the deadliest polluters in Europe, but despite local protests and clear evidence of its damage, authorities have so far failed to act. Forty years have passed since the commissioning of the first unit of the Bitola coal-fired power plant in the territory of modern North Macedonia.
  
  This is one of two such stations in the country, they have provided 50 to 70 percent of electricity production over the years. But, in addition to the production of electricity, the Bitola Power Plant also pollutes the air on a scale rarely seen in Europe. Over the past few years, the plant has often been among the top five polluters in Europe. Evidence of the harmful effects of dirty air on the environment and public health has been accumulating for ten years.
  
  The latest analysis compiled by Bankwatch, released recently, shows that concentrations of fine dust, PM2.5, alone are responsible for up to 8.43 percent of all deaths among adults in the nearby village of Novaci. This means that in this small, sparsely populated municipality, up to 6 people die prematurely each year due to PM2.5 pollution.
  
  Emissions of dust and sulfur dioxide from the power plant consistently exceed permissible emission limits. In addition, coal ash, a byproduct of the power generation process, is deposited outdoors near the station and contains heavy metals whose radioactivity levels also exceed acceptable limits.
  
  Public health organizations are releasing alarming numbers about the number of pollution-related illnesses in the region, and citizens and businesses are rallying to install air quality sensors. The latest report's findings are based on Bankwatch's own measurements over nine months of 2021, and the data confirms that a coal-fired power station, ash pit and lignite pit operating without any environmental per are the main sources of air pollution. Locals have repeatedly expressed their concerns. In 2014 and 2015, thousands of protesters took to the streets in the city of Bitola, demanding cleaner air.
  
  Worryingly, during the entire monitoring period, there were only several days when the pollution did not exceed the air quality limits recommended by the World Health Organization. In other words, people in Novaca are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution for most of the year.
  
  And so far Novaci is not an isolated case. Almost all the countries of the Western Balkans face the same problem of coal-fired power plants that poison the air. The Comply or Shut Up report published by Bankwatch and CREA in September 2021 found that coal dependence in the Western Balkans has caused almost 19,000 premature deaths in the region and beyond. All five Western Balkan countries with coal-fired power plants are under infringement procedures initiated by the Energy Community Secretariat for failing to meet emission limits.
  
  However, despite this dire situation, till now governments in the region have done little to even monitor air quality and provide regular, real-time information to the citizens of the coal regions, let alone implement measures to reduce pollution. However, the time of coal-fired power is over. In its latest energy strategy, the government of North Macedonia set 2027 as the date to phase out coal, but this ambition needs to be translated into action. Transition planning for the Bitola region is long overdue, and investment in energy conversion can no longer be delayed. If country has its own state strategy, all these processes should be accelerated.
  
  At the same time, it is unacceptable for the authorities to avoid investing in pollution control of the REK Bitola mining and energy complex before its closure. At least five more years of constant living in an environment as polluted as Novaci would cost many more lives.