Europe will increase coal consumption by 5%

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Internet portal InfoTEK on the reasons and possible ways to increase coal consumption by the EU countries.

The European Union, having banned Russian coal, does not intend to refuse coal as such. Moreover, the consumption of this energy source, which is considered the least environmentally friendly, will be increased in the EU by 5% over the next 5-10 years.

The EU is not definitively abandoning its "green" agenda, Alexey Gromov says.

“However, in the short term, Europeans need to resolve the issue of energy security,” the expert explained. “Now, after the introduction of the ban on Russian coal, it is not clear what will happen with gas from the Russian Federation, there is a risk of interruption in supplies, despite the fact that Gazprom’s counterparties have already begun opening accounts with Gazprombank.”

Therefore, according to Gromov, Europe was forced to temporarily soften its position in relation to coal. At the same time, the specified period of 5-10 years is quite long, but it is necessary for economic agents associated with the coal industry to be able to plan their investments and economic development. However, the timing may change at any time.

As for the supply of coal to Europe from other regions, Gromov believes that South Africa and Colombia can become the first suppliers. If earlier they supplied their coal to the Asia-Pacific region, now Russia is increasing coal supplies there.