РЕПУБЛИКА СРПСКА ВЛАДА МИНИСТАРСТВО ЗА ПРОСТОРНО УРЕЂЕЊЕ, ГРАЂЕВИНАРСТВО И ЕКОЛОГИЈУ Трг Републике Српске 1, Бања Лука, тел: 051/339 592 факс: 051/ 339 653 E-mail:[email protected] www.vladars.net No: 15.04 -052-953/17 Date: 3 February 2017 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS 9 Musala St 71000 Sarajevo Subject: Notification concerning the planned construction of thermal power plant “Ugljevik 3” in Ugljevik, submission to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, information required- (Ref: Act of the Implementation Committee No. EIA/IC/INFO/16 dated 20 December 2016) The act of the Implementation Committee under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) and its Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (hereinafter: the Committee) has been submitted electronically to the Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology. The said act requires that, in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 1 of the Convention, Bosnia and Herzegovina should inform the Republic of Serbia, as soon as possible, of the planned construction of the third block of Ugljevik thermal power plant and provide the information about the planned activity to the Committee. The concerned act states that at the thirthy-seventh session held in Geneva 12-14 December 2016, the Committee discussed the answers provided by the Republic of Serbia (dated 11 November 2016) to the questions of the Committee, hereby noting that in its response the Republic of Serbia had expressed its wish to be notified by Bosnia and Hercegovina of the planned construction of the third block of Ugljevik thermal power plant. In this regard, we inform you that the Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology has acted according to the Committee's act No.EIA/IC/INFO/16 dated 7 April 2016 concerning the planned construction of the third block of the thermal power plant in Ugljevik, near the border with Serbia and, on 22 July 2016, delivered additional clarifications regarding questions of the Committee. Acknowledging the interest of the Republic of Serbia to receive the notification concerning the planned construction of the third block of Ugljevik thermal power plant as well as the interest of the Information Delivery Committee, we inform you of the following: The environmental impact assessment procedure relating to the project New Generating Units of the Thermal Power Plant Ugljevik 3 in the municipality of Ugljevik officially started on 22 July 2011 when "COMSAR ENERGY REPUBLIKA SRPSKA" from Banja Luka submitted an application to the Ministry of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology. The construction of the new generating units was included in the Spatial Plan of the Republika Srpska until 2015, adopted in 2007 (Decision on the adoption of the aforementioned Spatial Plan was published in the "Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska", No. 86/07). General information on the project requested by the present document is as follows: the location planned for the construction of the thermal power plant Ugljevik 3 is about 25 kilometers from Bijeljina and about 45 kilometers from Tuzla. The planned location is situated on the western portion of the site of the existing thermal power plant Ugljevik 1, in an area that was originally designed for the power plant expansion when the first generating unit was built and which has been in operation since 1985. The planned thermal power plant Ugljevik 3 will consist of two 300 MW generating units. Each generating unit will include a boiler, a turbine and a generator and auxiliary systems, regulation, safety and ancillary equipment and devices, air filters, precipitators and flue gas fans, while both units will share the same 210 m high flue gas stack. In addition, the installation of a flue gas desulphurisation system is also planned. Brown coal will be used as a fuel for power generation. Electrical power production technology to be used in generating units of the termal powerplant plant Ugljevik 3 will be the circulating fluidised bed combustion, where limestone will be used as an inert material. The design of the thermal power plant Ugljevik 3 introduces the new technology of circulating fluidized gas combustion, as well as the flue gas desulphurisation process. The technology and equipment chosen for the thermal power plant Ugljevik 3 are ment to ensure that the SO2, NOx, CO2 and particulate matter emissions are in compliance with the limit values prescribed by the applicable European standards for new coal-fired power plants so as to make sure that the electric power generation process shall not have a significant impact on micro and macro air pollution. The environmental impact assessment did not identify any risk of significant environmental impact on any other country, which the Study explains in detail. In addition, the Study specifies that the construction of the thermal power plant will be carried out solely on the territory of the Republika Srpska, therefore, based on the relevant and afore explained design, the realization of this project cannot have any significant environmental impacts on the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor other countries in the region. The Environmental Impact Assessment Study indicates that the implementation of the planned project design and application of the established environmental protection measures ensure that the thermal power plant Ugljevik 3 does not produce any significant environmental impacts on the border area in relation to the current state of the environment in this area. The procedure has been carried out in the manner established by the Law on Environmental Protection, including a public hearing and public consultation. During the mentioned procedure, neither the general public, the interested public nor other competent authorities submitted any comments or remarks regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment Study, nor were there any comments that would have indicated the possible existence of potentially significant transboundary impacts, therefore, there was no need for the application of the provisions set by the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention). After conducting the environmental impact assessment procedure, as required by the Law on Environmental Protection (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska”, No. 71/12), a decision on the environmental permit for the concerned plant was issued on 14 November 2013. The decision on the environmental permit has established pollutant limit values, and in part relating to air emissions the prescribed limit values are based on Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/ЕU. No activity has been undertaken with respect to implementation of the planned construction project prior to preparing this notification. Due to the urgency of delivering this notification to the Republic of Serbia, we request that this act be immediately sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia. At the same time, we wish to inform you that owing to the obligation to inform the Committee, we have forwarded it electronically to the competent ministry and informed the Committee thereof. Attachment: Implementation Committee Act No. EIA/IC/INFO/16 dated 20 December 2016 MINISTER Srebrenka Golić Delivered to: 1. Addressee 2. Records office 3. а/а .