Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list

An analysis of 2022 EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) data reveals that the ten largest emitters are all coal power plants, with a high concentration of emissions in Germany and Poland. While long-term trends show a decline in coal power emissions, 2022 saw a 6% increase compared to 2021 due to the energy crisis, nuclear outages, and droughts.

• The ten largest emitters in the EU-ETS for 2022 were all coal power plants, accounting for 13% of total EU-ETS emissions and approximately 25% of power sector emissions. Seven of these ten plants have remained in the top ten for the last decade, with PGE’s Bełchatów in Poland topping the list since the scheme's inception in 2005.
• Coal power emissions in the EU-ETS increased by 6% in 2022 compared to 2021, releasing an additional 24 Mt CO2e. This uptick was driven by an increase in coal generation in the first half of 2022 resulting from high gas prices, nuclear outages, and a severe drought affecting hydro output, although emissions remained below 2019 levels and are 40% lower than a decade ago.
• Emissions are highly concentrated geographically and by corporate entity. Germany and Poland accounted for two-thirds of coal power emissions in 2022. Three utilities—RWE (Germany), PGE (Poland), and EPH (Czechia)—have been the top emitters for six consecutive years, collectively accounting for 30% of power sector emissions, with lignite responsible for 79% of their output.
• The power sector accounted for 739 million tonnes of CO2e (Mt CO2e) in 2022, representing about half of all EU-ETS emissions and a 3% increase over 2021. Within the power sector, hard coal and lignite emitted 456 Mt CO2e (62%), while gas power emissions remained stable at 170 Mt CO2e (approximately 25%).

APA

Dizon, R., & Broadbent, H. (2023). Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/eu-ets-2022

Chicago

Dizon, Reynaldo, and Hannah Broadbent. Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/eu-ets-2022.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dizon |first1=Reynaldo |last2=Broadbent |first2=Hannah |title=Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list |publisher=Ember |date=23 May 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/eu-ets-2022 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dizon2023repeat, author = {Dizon, Reynaldo and Broadbent, Hannah}, title = {{Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/eu-ets-2022}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }