Energy Crisis Fuels Coal Comeback in Germany

By Vera Eckert and Tom Sims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Coal has made a comeback in Germany this year, as Europe’s largest economy turns to the dirty fuel to power it through an energy crisis.

More than a third (36.3%) of the electricity fed into the German power grids between July and September came from coal-fired power plants, compared with 31.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021, according to German statistics office Destatis.

Long demonised by Germany’s Green party, which leads some of the government’s top ministries, coal was set to be phased out by 2030, but Russia’s war with Ukraine and gas export curbs, brought coal back into favour.

Coal-to-power generation output rose by 13.3% year-on-year to 42.9 terawatt hours (TWh) in the three months of July-September, during which overall German power output – at 118.1 TWh – lagged the same period in 2021 by 0.5 percent, Destatis said.