National Emission Reduction Plan (NERP)

You may not have heard of the National Emission Reduction Plan for Large Combustion Plants (NERP). And you would never hear of it, but the problem affects you personally.

In short, the plan stipulates that some power plants need to be modernized, while obsolete and worn-out ones need to be gradually decommissioned to purify the air.

The NERP was approved at the end of 2017 to meet the requirements of the Energy Community Treaty and Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions.

The NERP aims to gradually reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and fine dust (PM) from existing large combustion plants with a rated thermal input of 50 MW or more and the first emission permit or plant design permit granted before 1 July 1992. The National Emission Reduction Plan is valid from 2018 to 2033.

Europe has already implemented such plans to enable Europeans to breathe much cleaner air. But Ukraine, as a country in transition, has been given more time to make sure its coal-fired power plants meet the European air pollution standards. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, the key responsible authority, keeps promoting the interests of big business, instead of caring for the citizens and implementing the NERP. 

The most exciting thing is that the authorities laid the foundation to fund the greening of power plants back when they sold state property to private companies about 10 years ago. At that time, investors acquired power plants at a low cost to invest more in their further greening. And private companies made those commitments. For example, here’s a copy of one of the agreements with a private investor.

We’re currently struggling to:

  • Ensure that the NERP will have been implemented by 2038 within an agreed timeframe and without any delay, as dictated by affiliated people’s deputies.
  • Make sure private power plants are modernized at the expense of their owners rather than the state, i.e. all of us, although corporate lobbyists have a completely different opinion.

NERP’s whole story:

Key dates and facts about the NERP

2021 [↑]

This publication has been made within the frameworks of the Accountability Fund (Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). The views and opinions expressed in this article may not reflect the official position of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

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