Energy Crisis Bring Back Coal in Germany

According to reports, coal has made a comeback in Germany in 2022, as the largest economy of Europe turns to coal energy to power the country through an energy crisis. More than 36 percent of the electricity fed into the power grids of Germany between July 2022 and September 2022 came from coal-fired power plants, compared with 31.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021.

Long demonized by the Green Party of Germany, coal was set to be phased out by 2030, but the Russia-Ukraine war and halt in gas exports, have brought coal back into favour in Germany.

The output of coal-to-power generation has increased by 13.3 percent year-on-year to 42.9 terawatt hours in the past three months, during which the total power output in Germany lagged the same period in 2021 by 0.5 percent. Gas production increased slightly, despite high process, as hydro and wind power output were low, and domestic nuclear output also dropped from July 2022 to September 2022.

Under the threat of gas shortages, several coal energy facilities that were closed have re-entered the market in Europe in 2022, but in most of the European countries, the amount of coal usage was limited.

According to the reports, global consumption of coal has reached a record high of more than 8 billion tonnes in 2022, with Germany being one of the highest with 19 percent increase, compared to 2021.