‘Álle 315 kolencentrales in Europa vóór 2030 sluiten’

10 februari 2017Alle Europese kolencentrales moeten binnen 13 jaar gesloten worden, anders gaat het flink mis met de klimaatdoelstellingen. Dat concludeert het Duitse onderzoeksbureau Climate Analytics. Binnen nu en twee jaar zou al een kwart van alle centrales gesloten moeten worden. 

Uit een bericht van Climate Analytics
‘(…) The report sets out the first science-based analysis of when – and where – each of the EU’s more than 300 coal power plants would need to be phased out. Climate Analytics has calculated that to stay within the Paris Agreement’s long term temperature limits of “well below” 2˚C and “pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C,” the EU’s CO2 emissions budget for coal in the power sector is around 6.5Gt by 2050.

EU will exceed ‘Paris’ coal emission budget with 85%
The EU will exceed its Paris Agreement-compatible coal emissions budget by 85% if its existing coal-fired power plants continue operating to their full lifespan.
“Not only would existing coal plants exceed the EU’s emissions budget, but the eleven planned and announced plants would raise EU emissions to almost twice the levels required to keep warming to the Paris Agreement’s long term temperature goal,” said Dr Michiel Schaeffer, Climate Analytics Science Director.
The report shows that emissions from coal in the EU electricity sector need to be close to zero by 2030 (95% by 2030; 100% by 2031), with a quarter of operating coal-fired power plants switched off before 2020 and a further 47% going offline by 2025.

Phase out coal the cheapest way
“We find the cheapest way for the EU to make the emissions cuts required to meet its Paris Agreement commitments is to phase out coal from the electricity sector, and replace this capacity with renewables and energy efficiency measures,” said Paola Yanguas Parra, a lead author of the report.
“Germany and Poland have the most work to do on a coal phase-out: they are jointly responsible for 51% of installed coal capacity and 54% of emissions from coal.”

The report outlines two possible pathways showing how the EU could achieve a complete coal phase-out, and proposes a shutdown date for each of the EU’s 315 power plants (738 generating units in total).

One pathway is based around a ‘market’ perspective, where the economic value of the plant is prioritised over its emissions intensity, and the other is based on a ‘regulator’ perspective, where plants with the highest emissions intensity are phased out first. Both yield a phase-out of coal by 2030, but the date each specific plant goes offline differs significantly between the two approaches, with different potential impacts on regions within a given country.

Climate Analytics - Coal Shutdown Rates

To achieve this ambitious phase-out schedule, the EU will need to design enhanced policy settings and approaches that complement each other, including:

  • a more effective EU Emissions Trading Scheme
  • a stable and predictable investment framework
  • bigger targets for renewables – instrumental in a successful coal phase-out
  • strategies and policies at both national and regional level to ensure a smooth transition and maximise usage of socioeconomic opportunities. (…)’

Uit een artikel van het FD
‘(…) Op dit moment zijn steenkool en bruinkool goed voor meer dan een kwart van de elektriciteitsproductie in de EU. Tussen 2000 en 2014 is het kolengebruik voor energiecentrales met 11% gedaald. (…)
Kolencentrales zijn op dit moment bijzonder controversieel. Sluiting dreigt voor de laatst vijf kolencentrales in Nederland, al is daarover vooral veel onduidelijkheid. Coalitiepartijen PvdA en VVD staan lijnrecht tegenover elkaar. Staatssecretaris DIjksma voor Milieu (PvdA) wil dat meer centrales dichtgaan en zet in op sluiting van de Hemwegcentrale in Amsterdam. Minister Kamp van Economische Zaken (VVD) zegt dat de beoogde CO2-reductie van 25% in 2020 te halen is zonder extra kolencentrales stil te leggen.
Voorstanders van sluiting zeggen dat hiermee de milieudoelstellingen worden gehaald. Tegenstanders wijzen op het waterbedeffect. (…)’

Bronnen
Climate Analytics, 9 februari 2017: EU needs to shut all coal plants by 2030, or will vastly overshoot Paris Agreement
Climate Analytics, rapport, 9 februari 2017: A stress test for coal in Europe under the Paris Agreement (pdf, 53 pag.)
FD, 10 febnruari 2017: ‘Europa moet in 2030 kolencentrales sluiten anders worden klimaatdoelen niet gehaald’ (Registratie)
Foto: FluxEnergie/ © Paul Tolenaar

Auteur: Redactie

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