Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list

This report by Ember analyses 2022 emissions data from the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS), focusing on the power sector. It identifies a small number of coal power plants and utilities that dominate emissions in Europe, noting a temporary 3% increase in power sector emissions in 2022 driven by the energy crisis, despite a long-term downward trend in coal use.

• The ten largest emitters in the EU-ETS for 2022 were all coal power plants, collectively accounting for 13% of total EU-ETS emissions and approximately 25% of all power sector emissions. Seven of these ten plants have remained in the top ten every year for the last decade.
• Germany and Poland are the primary drivers of coal power emissions in the EU-ETS, together accounting for two-thirds of these emissions in 2022. When including Czechia and Bulgaria, these four countries represent 80% of coal power emissions.
• Power sector emissions in the EU-ETS rose by 3% in 2022, reaching 739 million tonnes of CO2e (Mt CO2e). Coal power emissions specifically increased by 6% compared to 2021, though they remained 40% lower than levels from a decade ago.
• Three utilities—RWE (Germany), PGE (Poland), and EPH (Czechia)—have been the top emitters for six consecutive years. Together they account for 30% of power sector emissions, with lignite responsible for 79% of their combined emissions.
• The 2022 increase in coal emissions was influenced by the energy crisis, which included high gas prices, nuclear outages, and a severe drought affecting hydro output. Emergency measures to ensure energy security, such as lifting coal capacity limits, contributed to this uptick.
• National progress in reducing power sector emissions varies significantly; Germany reduced coal emissions by 100 Mt CO2e (-37%) since 2013, while Poland's coal power sector emissions decreased by only 12% in the same period.

APA

Fox, H., Dizon, R., & Broadbent, H. (2023). Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Repeat-Offenders_-EU-ETS-2022-report-1.pdf

Chicago

Fox, Harriet, Reynaldo Dizon, and Hannah Broadbent. Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Repeat-Offenders_-EU-ETS-2022-report-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fox |first1=Harriet |last2=Dizon |first2=Reynaldo |last3=Broadbent |first3=Hannah |title=Repeat offenders: coal power plants top the EU emitters list |publisher=Ember |date=23 May 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/05/Repeat-Offenders_-EU-ETS-2022-report-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fox2023repeat, author = {Fox, Harriet and 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/app/uploads/2023/05/Repeat-Offenders_-EU-ETS-2022-report-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }