Coal plants account for 10 top largest emitters in EU: Report

LONDON

The 10 biggest emitters in the European Union last year were all coal plants, with those in Germany and Poland dominating the list, a new analysis by energy think tank Ember revealed Tuesday.

The power sector accounted for 739 million tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) last year, about half of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) emissions. Coal was responsible for over 60% of power sector emissions, with Germany and Poland accounting for two-thirds of it.

The top 10 coal plants accounted for a quarter of all emissions from the power sector last year and 13% of total EU emissions recorded in the ETS, according to the analysis.

The system covers over 10,000 installations across sectors including power, aviation and other industries such as cement, steel and oil refineries.

"Coal plants are the repeat offenders of the EU's dirty list," said Ember's analyst Harriet Fox. "The faster Europe can get off coal power the better."

Seven of the coal plants have been among the top 10 power plants every year for the last decade.

PGE's Belchatow power plant in Poland has topped the list as it has done since the ETS began in 2005.

Germany’s RWE and EPH and Poland’s PGE dominated power sector emissions for the sixth consecutive year as they each emitted almost as much CO2e as Italy's power sector in 2022.

Those three utilities accounted for 30% of the EU's power sector emissions, with lignite plants responsible for the majority of this, Ember said.

Besides the coal plants in Germany and Poland, Bulgaria's Maritsa East 2 coal plant ranked the 10th largest emitter in the EU.

According to the analysis, while coal still dominates the EU's emissions, the long-term decline of coal power is clear as coal emissions in 2022 were lower than a decade ago.

Coal power emissions in Europe rose by only 6% last year compared to 2021, despite concerns that Europe would return to coal power during the global gas crisis exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine.

Ember said the two biggest EU-ETS coal power emitters, Germany and Poland, have seen declines in coal power emissions, though Germany is moving more quickly.

Coal power emissions have fallen by 37% in the last decade in Germany, which is targeting phasing out coal plants in 2030.

Poland, however, has yet to set a coal phase-out date and reduced its coal power emissions by only 12% in the last 10 years. As a result, Poland had an increased share of 28% of EU-ETS coal power sector emissions in 2022, up from 19% a decade ago, while Germany's share remained stable.

"Poland will soon be left as the EU's biggest emitter if it doesn’t change course," Fox said. "Germany is making strides to cut its coal dependency, but Poland has yet to begin."