The €2.4bn-a-year sum covers both direct and hidden, indirect subsidies between 2015 and 2017. Indirect support includes allowances, exemptions or waivers that helped power plant operators avoid paying for CO2 emissions or operate at low or negative levels of profitability. Direct subsidies amounted to €414m.
But eliminating the subsidies would be politically controversial – triggering a significant rise in household electricity prices across the community. The estimated increases range from as big as 49% in Serbia and 37% in Montenegro, to a smaller 23% in Kosovo, the report found. Industrial power consumers would face a 36% increase in Montenegro and 34% in North Macedonia, and a drop of 9% in Kosovo….
An excerpt from Climate Homes News