Bulgaria’s Supreme Court strikes down pollution exemption for TPP Maritsa East 2

Bulgaria’s largest state-owned coal-fired power plant is facing a significant compliance risk after the Supreme Administrative Court permanently annulled an environmental exemption that had enabled TPP Maritsa East 2 to exceed European pollution limits for years. The decision, following extended litigation, raises the prospect of tighter emissions controls and renewed scrutiny of how derogations are applied under EU rules.

Legal dispute over EU pollution derogation

The ruling concerns [[PRRS_LINK_1]] and follows a prolonged legal battle initiated by Greenpeace Bulgaria and For the Earth. Environmental groups hailed the outcome as one of the most significant environmental court victories in Bulgaria in recent years.

In upholding an earlier judgment by the Administrative Court in Stara Zagora, the Supreme Administrative Court confirmed that a 2018 decision by Bulgaria’s Executive Environment Agency to amend the plant’s integrated operating permit should be overturned. The core of the dispute was a derogation allowing the power plant to bypass EU environmental standards related to sulfur dioxide emissions.

Court findings: cumulative impacts, scientific evidence and local air policy

Greenpeace Bulgaria said the exemption effectively allowed emissions far above legal thresholds, including sulfur dioxide at nearly double the legal limit and mercury at more than four times the permitted level, without a clear timeline or binding reduction measures.

In its final ruling, the Supreme Administrative Court found that Bulgarian authorities did not properly assess the cumulative environmental and health impacts of the emissions. The judges also concluded that the exemption disregarded key scientific evidence and conflicted with local air quality policies in the municipality of Galabovo.

The court further stated that the derogation did not meet European environmental law requirements governing exemptions from standards. It referenced a related judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), case C-375/21, which was considered during proceedings.

Years of litigation and procedural reset

The case has moved through multiple stages over recent years. In 2023, Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court had already overturned a lower court ruling due to serious procedural issues and ordered that the matter be reconsidered by a different judicial panel.

With this latest permanent annulment, TPP Maritsa East 2 now sits at the center of a renewed regulatory challenge: how quickly authorities can align permitting and emissions conditions with EU requirements after a court has ruled that prior derogation decisions were legally defective.