Europe’s great coal collapse of 2019

This report by Sandbag analyzes the significant decline in coal-fired electricity generation across the European Union during the first half of 2019, attributing the collapse to the rise of renewables, carbon pricing driving a switch to natural gas, and plant closures.

• Coal generation in the European Union fell by 19% during the first half of 2019. This decline is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 65 million tonnes and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 1.5% compared to the previous year, although coal is still expected to account for 12% of the EU's 2019 GHG emissions.
• The decline in coal was driven equally by two factors: half of the fall was replaced by wind and solar generation, and the other half by a switch to fossil gas. In absolute terms, coal fell by approximately 50TWh, while wind and solar rose by 30TWh and gas rose by 30TWh.
• Germany experienced the largest absolute decrease in coal generation, which fell by 22%. Despite this, Germany remained responsible for 35% of the EU's total coal generation in the first half of 2019. A significant portion of the lignite decrease was attributed to RWE's Niederaussem and Neurath plants.
• Western European countries saw substantial percentage drops in coal use, ranging from 22% in Germany to 79% in Ireland. In the first half of 2019, coal made up less than 2% of the electricity mix in France, the UK, and Ireland, and 6% in Italy and Spain. The UK notably had two weeks in May where all coal plants were switched off.
• Eastern European countries experienced smaller declines in coal generation due to low deployment of wind and solar. In 2018, only 5% of EU wind and solar installations occurred in eastern Europe. Specifically, Poland installed 39MW, Czechia 26MW, Romania 5MW, and Bulgaria 3MW out of 17,000MW installed across Europe. Coal fell by 6% in Poland and 16% in Greece, while generation rose slightly in Bulgaria and Slovenia.
• Rising carbon prices, approaching €30 per tonne, shifted the economics from coal to gas and clean energy. This led to a collapse in lignite plant profitability in 2019, with the report estimating that very few, if any, lignite plants covered their fixed costs in the first half of the year.
• The rate of coal plant closures remains slow, with only 3% of coal plants closing in 2018. Most closures were concentrated in Germany and the UK. Mandated closures in Germany included lignite units at Jaenschwalde and Niederaussem, which reduced inefficient generation by 4TWh.

APA

Jones, D. (2019). Europe’s great coal collapse of 2019. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-EU-Coal-Report.pdf

Chicago

Jones, Dave. Europe’s great coal collapse of 2019. Ember, 2019. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-EU-Coal-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jones |first1=Dave |title=Europe’s great coal collapse of 2019 |publisher=Ember |date=July 2019 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-EU-Coal-Report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2019europes, author = {Jones, Dave}, title = {{Europe’s great coal collapse of 2019}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-EU-Coal-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }