Plans in Europe to place a small number of coal plants on temporary standby would only add 1.3% to EU emissions annually, even in the worst-case scenario where they run at the highest levels, according to London-based energy think tank Ember.
Germany, Austria, France, and the Netherlands have recently announced plans to enable increased coal power generation in the event that Russian gas supplies suddenly stop.
Ember’s analysis finds that 14 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired plants have been placed on standby, adding 1.5% to the EU’s total installed power generation capacity (920 GW). The majority are in Germany, which approved 8 GW of reserve capacity as part of its Replacement Power Plant Provision Act adopted on July 8.
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