Limited Utility

This report by Ember and the Europe Beyond Coal campaign evaluates whether the strategies of 21 major European coal-burning utilities align with the IEA's Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) roadmap. The analysis finds a significant gap between corporate net-zero pledges and actual phase-out timelines for coal and gas, as well as insufficient acceleration in wind and solar deployment to meet the 1.5°C warming limit.

• Only 43% (nine out of 21) of the analyzed coal utilities have aligned their coal phase-out dates with the IEA benchmarks of 2030 for EU/OECD countries and 2040 for the rest of the world.
• While 16 of the 21 utilities have pledged to reach net zero by 2050, five of those pledging companies have failed to align their coal phase-out dates with the 2030/2040 benchmarks.
• There is a lack of transparency regarding fossil gas, and data suggests all 21 assessed utilities will continue operating fossil gas power plants in EU/OECD countries beyond the 2035 benchmark.
• The combined wind and solar capacity of the 21 companies is projected to grow from 88 GW in 2020 to 428 GW by 2030. However, this growth does not meet the IEA's minimum requirement of a six-fold increase; only 10% (two companies) of the utilities will grow their wind and solar portfolios more than six-fold.
• Only 19% (four companies) of the utilities will triple their production through wind and solar additions by 2030, falling short of the IEA's renewable energy growth expectations.
• Hydrogen plans are currently insufficient to replace gas-fired generation, with many utilities relying on 'hydrogen-ready' claims that lack binding timeframes or tangible definitions.
• Certain utilities are heavily reliant on biomass, which the report notes may not be carbon neutral. Drax and Ørsted have the largest operational biomass-fired fleets, with biomass making up 40% and 13% of their power generation portfolios, respectively.
• A contradiction exists where the utilities most active in wind and solar investment are also those planning to maintain expansive fossil fuel fleets beyond 2035.

APA

Brown, S., & Kolle, K. (2022). Limited Utility. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Limited-Utility.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Sarah, and Kaarina Kolle. Limited Utility. Ember, 2022. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Limited-Utility.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Sarah |last2=Kolle |first2=Kaarina |title=Limited Utility |publisher=Ember |date=January 2022 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Limited-Utility.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2022limited, author = {Brown, Sarah and Kolle, Kaarina}, title = {{Limited Utility}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Limited-Utility.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }