Approximately 82% of EU coal power plants do not comply with new regulation on industry air pollution emission standards, according to research presented at the COP23 climate talks in Bonn by Climate Analytics.
The problem is particularly bad in Germany and Poland, which account for around half the EU’s coal capacity, and neither country has announced phase out dates. This is despite Austria, Denmark, France, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK all committing to phase out coal by 2030.
Around 80% of German coal power plants fail to comply with the new EU regulation, while virtually none comply in Poland. Pollution from such plants is estimated to be responsible for 23,000 premature deaths in the EU every year.
The costs for upgrading coal plants to meet the air pollution regulation could be up to €14.5bn EU-wide, €4.3bn in Poland and €1.2bn in Germany. “The most economic and environmentally sustainable choice is not converting old coal plants,” said Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare. “Instead they should be shut down, with investment made in renewables and modernisation of the electricity grid.”