Coal is not making a comeback: Europe plans limited increase

Analysis by Ember indicates that placing approximately 14 GW of coal plants on standby in Europe to offset gas shortages would have a limited impact on emissions and would not derail long-term climate commitments. The report argues that these are short-term emergency measures and that the crisis is actually accelerating the transition to clean energy. It further disputes claims that Germany requires massive amounts of coal imports from Indonesia, suggesting such demand is overestimated based on current capacity and inventory levels.

• Europe has placed approximately 13.5 GW to 14 GW of coal-fired plants on standby to ensure gas storage facilities can reach 90% capacity by November. This represents a 12% increase in the EU's existing coal fleet of 109 GW and a 1.5% increase in total installed power generation capacity of 920 GW.
• If these standby plants operate at a 65% capacity factor throughout 2023, they would generate 60 TWh of electricity, resulting in approximately 30 million tonnes of additional net CO2 emissions. This increase represents 1.3% of the EU's total 2021 CO2 emissions and 4% of its 2021 power sector emissions.
• The temporary use of coal has not led any European country to reverse its commitment to phase out coal by 2030. Specific national measures include Germany's Replacement Power Plant Provision Act enabling 8.2 GW of standby capacity, the Netherlands allowing hard coal plants (4.5 GW) to run at full capacity until the end of 2023, France reopening the 595 MW Emile Huchet 6 unit for one winter, and Austria temporarily reactivating the 246 MW Mellach plant.
• Claims that Germany requested 150 million tonnes of coal from Indonesia are likely overestimated. Ember's analysis suggests that if Germany's 6.3 GW of hard coal supply reserve plants run at a 65% load factor in 2023, the additional requirement would be approximately 13.5 million tonnes.
• The gas crisis is acting as a catalyst for a faster transition to clean energy in Europe, with the REPowerEU plan targeting renewables to account for 69% of electricity production by 2030.

APA

Ember (2022). Coal is not making a comeback: Europe plans limited increase. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/coal-is-not-making-a-comeback

Chicago

Ember. Coal is not making a comeback: Europe plans limited increase. 2022. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/coal-is-not-making-a-comeback.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Coal is not making a comeback: Europe plans limited increase |date=13 July 2022 |url=https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/coal-is-not-making-a-comeback |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2022coal, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Coal is not making a comeback: Europe plans limited increase}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2022}, month = jul, url = {https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/coal-is-not-making-a-comeback}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }