Market reports show further drop in coal-fired power plants in third quarter

The European Commission’s latest reports on gas and electricity markets, which cover the third quarter of 2019, have just been published, containing a wide range of data about supply and usage of electricity and gas in the EU.

The electricity market report highlights the further shift away from coal-fired power plants towards gas, driven by gas prices close to multiyear lows and rising CO2 prices. EU-wide electricity generation from solid fuels fell by 35% and thermal coal imports from outside of the EU was nearly 40% down, dropping to a new all-time low. The share of renewable energy in the EU power mix reached 33%, higher than the corresponding shares in India (27%), China (26%) and the United States (15%). Thanks to its expanding renewable generation and intensified coal-to-gas switching, the EU’s electricity sector is on track to decrease its carbon footprint by more than 10% this year, the report finds.

The gas market report shows a 7% increase in gas consumption relative to July-September 2018 and a 20% rise in gas used in electricity. Indigenous gas production dropped by 9%, and net gas imports increased by 0.5% year on year. EU LNG imports showed a huge increase, up by 75% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019. The most important LNG suppliers to Europe were Qatar (35% of all LNG imports), Russia (15%), Nigeria (14%) and the US (12%).

Previous gas and electricity market reports