site.btaSupreme Court Allows Air-Polluting Maritsa 3 TPP to Resume Operation

The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) on Wednesday allowed the Maritsa 3 coal-fired power plant of Dimitrovgrad (Southeastern Bulgaria) to resume operations, arguing that the facility is incurring substantial losses by being shut down and that the rights of more than 200 workers, who are forced into unscheduled leave without pay and risk unemployment, need to be safeguarded.

The SAC halted an April 29 order by which the Director of the Haskovo Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW) suspended the operation of the power plant's 370-MWh electricity-generating boiler.

The RIEW ordered the shut-down of the boiler because its sulphur dioxide emissions systematically exceeded limit values in Dimitrovgrad.

Another argument for the SAC's judgment is over BGN 36 million claimed by Hydro Power Utilities Ltd as a penalty for Maritsa 3's default on its contractual obligation to deliver an amount of electricity because of the forced and unplanned suspension of the power plant's operation.

The EU Court of Justice has found that Bulgaria has committed an infringement of EU environment legislation because of sulphur dioxide exceedences in the Dimitrovgrad area.