Pego power station conversion plans halted
Karen Vermeer, Coordinator of the Environmental Paper Network Finance Working Group, karen@environmentalpaper.org, Tel: +31 6 39424524 (Netherlands)
Nuno Forner, ZERO, nuno.forner@zero.ong, Tel: +351911507704 (Portugal)
Karen Vermeer, Coordinator of the Environmental Paper Network Finance Working Group, karen@environmentalpaper.org, Tel: +31 6 39424524 (Netherlands)
Nuno Forner, ZERO, nuno.forner@zero.ong, Tel: +351911507704 (Portugal)
The success
In March 2022, it was announced that Pego power station – Portugal’s last remaining coal power station – would not be converted to burning wood pellets for energy. Instead, the power station will be converted to a wind and solar project.
BankTrack's role
BankTrack joined 66 other organisations in sending an open letter to the Portuguese government and the European Commission objecting to the wood biomass conversion plans. BankTrack also published a Dodgy Deal profile on the Pego power station and used it as an early warning for financiers about the potential impacts of the conversion.
The Pego power station was Portugal's last remaining coal power station which stopped burning coal in November 2021. Rather than closing down the power station, the power station's majority shareholder, TrustEnergy, wanted to convert it to burning wood pellets for energy. In February 2021, nine Portuguese and 58 international NGOs issued an open letter to the Portuguese government and the European Commission objecting to TrustEnergy’s biomass conversion plans. Endesa, the power station’s minority shareholder, opposed the biomass conversion plans and instead proposed to replace the power station with a large solar PV plant, coupled to battery storage and green hydrogen production.
In January 2022, the Environmental Paper Network, BankTrack and partners published a Dodgy Deal profile on the Pego power station and used it as an early warning for financiers about the potential impacts of the conversion. In March, it was announced that the conversion plans would not go ahead. Instead the power station will be converted to a wind and solar project as per Endesa's plans.
