More than half of Romania's coal-fired power plants operate illegally

Fifteen out of Romania’s 28 coal-fired power plants operate without an integrated environmental permit, according to a Greenpeace report. "The Romanian government has tolerated the illegal operation of some coal-fired power plants for years,” reads the report. These plants fail to meet the legal emission limits. The number of coal energy groups in Romania operating without this environmental permit has dropped from 21 to 15 compared to last year, according to the Greenpeace report. The European Union has introduced new pollution limits this year for the emissions of toxic substances from coal, gas, oil and other fossil-fuel power plants. The plants have four years to invest in modernizing combustion and waste water purification systems, so that they are in line with European standards by 2021. Several Greenpeace Romania activists protested last week at the Mintia Thermal Power Plant, Hunedoara County, against the illegal operation of a thermal plant that does not have an integrated environmental permit and does not comply with the pollution limits. editor@romania-insider.com