Wednesday 5 April 2017

European energy firms pledge no new coal from 2020

Energy companies in Europe have pledged not to build any new coal-fired power plants in the EU after 2020.

The announcement was made at a conference in Brussels today, where the European power sector agreed its joint position on clean energy.

EURELECTRIC - which represents around 3,500 utilities with a combined value of more than €200 billion (£171bn) - reiterated its commitment to deliver on the Paris climate agreement, in addition to announcing its intention to not invest in new build coal plants after this decade.

National energy companies from every EU nation – except Poland and Greece – have signed up to the initiative.

Kristian Ruby, EURELECTRIC Secretary-General said the sector is already leveraging investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to achieve carbon neutral electricity supply by 2050.

He added: “The challenge for policymakers in the next two years will be to target the political instruments, ensure that they are complementary and advance decarbonisation and electrification at the same time.”

The UK aims to close coal-fired power plants by 2025.