The European Investment Bank (EIB) will not provide financial support to a new lignite fired power plant being planned in Greece.
The EIB has told environmental group WWF that it has not received an official request for financial support for the project, WWF said in a statement. EIB also says that if such a request were made for the Ptolemaida-5 power plant, the project would not qualify under EIB's new rules for loans to coal-fired power plants.
Ptolemaida-5 would have a generating capacity of 660 MW and is being developed by Greece's Public Power Corporation (PPC). It would emit around 1000 g of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kWh, according to WWF.
Last year the EIB revised its policy to include an emissions performance standard of 550 g CO2/kWh for coal fired power plants.
"This is good news not only for Greece but also as an important test case for EIB energy policy," said Sebastian Godinot of WWF. "The Ptolemaida-5 plant shows that the EIB clearly appears willing to "walk the talk" when it comes to its new energy policy."
WWF has also called for other financial institutions supporting the project - including Germany's KfW - to pull out.
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