The EU’s use of coal-fuelled electricity rose last year as countries concerned by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine faced energy supply shortfalls, but the increase was not as large as many had feared. a report Tuesday out.
This is partly thanks to a boost in renewable energy generation, which generated a record 22 percent of the EU’s electricity last year.
As EU countries scramble to shore up energy supplies after Russia cut off gas flows following its invasion of Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow’s coal and crude, some are turning to coal to replace lost supplies. Turned to power plants.
The move is set to increase EU coal-fired power generation by 7 percent over 2021, accounting for 16 percent of EU electricity, but the situation could “get much worse,” the report by think tank Amber said. Could have”.
The report points to a decline in coal production in the last four months of 2022 mainly due to lower power demand. It says the 26 coal units brought back online across the bloc last year remained at just 18 per cent average utilization between October and December, while the EU burned through only a third of the 22 million tonnes of additional coal , which was imported as a failure.
“Any fear of a coal rebound is now dead,” said Dave Jones, Ember’s head of data insights.
A huge increase in wind and solar power, which has again overtaken coal use and overtaken natural gas for the first time, helped fuel coal’s rebound.
Last year saw the biggest jump in solar production, which grew by a quarter, or 39 terawatt hours, last year, according to the report. The Netherlands emerged as the EU’s leading producer of solar energy, accounting for 14 percent of its electricity mix.
Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s climate chief, said the report showed the body’s target of achieving a 45 percent share of renewable energy in the bloc’s overall energy mix by 2030 was “ambitious but entirely feasible.”
According to the report, fossil fuel production is set to decline by 20 percent this year, partly in the form of solar and wind generation.
The think tank also expects an increase in the block’s hydroelectric production, which was crippled by a historic drought in 2022, and pointed out that several of France’s nuclear reactors are set to come back online this year.