BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 29. Germany is expected to be the largest coal consumer in Europe in 2022, Trend reports via the latest update on the coal market from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
According to the forecast, coal consumption will rise in the second half of the current year, "pushed up by the need to save gas for winter amid uncertainty over Russian flows".
"Several countries in the EU (Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria) are extending the lifetimes of coal plants scheduled for closure, reopening closed plants or raising caps on working hours of coal plants to reduce gas consumption. We assume this will raise coal-fired power generation in the second half of 2022 and result in a year-on-year increase in thermal coal demand of about 33 Mt for the full year", the report said.
In total, the EU’s coal consumption in the current year is projected to increase 476 Mt - an increase of 7 percent, compared to 2021.
"The near future for EU coal consumption is very uncertain, given the volatile situation with Russian gas flows. In our forecast, the expansion of renewables and energy saving measures in 2023 are enough to offset expected nuclear power plant closures. Assuming a higher availability of nuclear power plants in France than in 2022, we forecast a decline of 4 Mt in EU coal demand in 2023," the IEA noted.
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