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Europe halfway towards closing all coal power plants by 2030
(EurActiv, 23 Mar 2021) Half of Europe’s 324 coal-fuelled power plants have either closed or announced a retirement date before 2030, it emerged on Monday (22 March) when French power utility EDF announced the 162nd plant will close in 2022.
EDF’s planned closure of the West Burton coal-fuelled power plant in the north of England – one of two remaining in Britain – means half of Europe’s coal plants will have closed by 2030.
“We are in the endgame for the coal industry in Europe,” said Kathrin Gutmann, campaign director at Europe Beyond Coal, an alliance of civil society groups campaigning to phase-out coal.
“After years of unrelenting decline, half of Europe’s coal fleet is history. Governments, energy companies and financial institutions must now plan for a 2030 or earlier coal exit, end all funding flows to coal and fossil gas, and instead, direct their support to sustainable renewables, and the just transition of impacted communities,” she added.
Coal produces the most CO2 per kilogram of all fossil fuels, producing nearly double the amount natural gas does. It also causes air pollution by releasing particulates when it burns.
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EurActiv, 23 Mar 2021: Europe halfway towards closing all coal power plants by 2030
