Spain burns 17% more coal due to the energy crisis and breaks the downward trend

Spain is not the only country that has resorted to the ‘wild card’ of coal to deal with the situation: the same has happened in Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria and the Netherlands, in addition to the price of gas and the heat wave, it has influenced this increase of coal the stoppage of cogeneration plants since mid-JuneIt is the only electrical technology that has reduced its installed capacity so far this yearThe invasion of Ukraine and its effects on the gas and electricity market has forced the return to the wild card of the Coal. Despite the fact that it is a technology clearly in retreat in our country – only in 2020 seven plants were closed – so far this year it has generated 17% more electricity in our country than in all of 2021. The increase means breaking with the downward trend of the last four years. Coal is the fossil fuel that emits the most CO2 emissions. Those almost 6,000 GWh of coal that we carried until the month of September represent 3% of the total generation compared to the 2% that it contributed to the mix of Spain. In Germany, this effect of the war is much more relevant: coal was the main source of electricity in this country, contributing 30% of all kilowatts in the first half of the year. From the start there were huge differences between the two countries. Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands or Austria have reconsidered coal to save gas and face the crisis. It is a relatively easy and quick solution with a trade-off: worsening climate change. Coal emits twice as much CO2 as gas to generate the same amount of electricity. The plans of Europe’s leader in green energy have come into conflict with exorbitant gas prices. Governments have assumed this parenthesis as inevitable, “but we must not lose sight of the medium and long term,” the vice president and minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, argued this week in a forum organized by InfoLibre. , this year also coincides with the blowing up of several towers of this type of thermal power plants: Andorra in Teruel and La Robla in León. Both plants were disconnected from the network in 2020 and their dismantling can no longer be reversed. Some political parties have criticized these decisions: it makes no sense to get rid of facilities that can generate electricity and serve as backup to the system in times of crisis like the current one. However, it is also the electricity companies themselves that want to leave coal behind for various reasons: it is not profitable (although now with these prices perhaps the numbers are different) and it does not fit in at all with the green plans in which the sector. The cogeneration factor A derivative of the crisis itself explains the greater contribution of traditional thermal. The design of the gas cap mechanism introduced in the Iberian Peninsula on June 15 caused an immediate drop in electricity in the cogeneration plants associated with the industry. This sudden hole in the system coincided with the heat wave and increased kilowatt demand. In August, the paradox occurred that for several days coal generated more electricity than these more efficient and less polluting small plants. Coal, natural gas and photovoltaics are the three technologies that have already exceeded generation levels for all of 2021 so far this year. Currently there are only four plants capable of injecting electricity into the system: two in Asturias, one in the Balearic Islands at half capacity and with limited production hours, and another in Galicia (As Pontes), waiting for a decision to be made if necessary keep it as a support this coming winter.