Europe’s coal-age, industrial dinosaurs are getting fitted-out for the future. Take the Czech Republic, for example: The Prague government has promised to phase-out coal-fired power generation by the year 2033.
Operators of many ancient coal-fired power plants are on-board. The conversion has already begun at the Opatovice lignite-fired power plant. Opatovice will have completed its coal phase-out by 2030 at the latest (perhaps even earlier). The conversion will be to natural gas. This is controversial, since natural gas is also a fossil fuel.
To slow down climate change, the economy must be decarbonised. That’s the scientific consensus. The European Union’s objective is to become climate-neutral by the year 2050. The first milestone is the EU target of at least 55% less greenhouse gases by 2030 (as compared to 1990). That’s what it says in the EU law “Fit for 55”.
The most important tool for this transition is emissions trading: Those who release CO2 into the atmosphere must pay. Major polluters need a lot of emission allowances. And they aren’t cheap! Consequently, operating a coal-fired power plant is no longer profitable. This is why the production of electricity and heat is shifting to less polluting energy sources.
The revenues from European emissions trading flow into the EU’s “Modernisation Fund”. This fund helps lower-income Member States finance the energy transition. Since 2021, the fund has paid out 15.5 billion euros. So far, most of the money has gone to the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland. Coal regions are the top priority, in order to accelerate the phase-out and make the phase-out socially acceptable in these regions.
The money from the EU Modernisation Fund will be invested in:
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Renewable energy sources
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Energy efficiency (e.g. thermal insulation)
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Energy storage technology
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and in modernisation of electricity and district heating networks
But there’s a problem and it’s a subject of heated debate throughout Europe. The modernisation fund also subsidises conversion to natural gas. Natural gas is indeed somewhat cleaner than coal. However: Burning natural gas also produces CO2, which heats up the earth’s climate. There is a consensus among scientists that natural gas cannot serve as more than a temporary solution. Particularly, as climate-damaging methane escapes when natural gas is transported.
The Opatovice lignite-fired power plant in the Czech Republic has been supplying several towns, including Pardubice, with district heating for half a century. It is now being modernised with EU financial aid. In December, the Modernisation Fund approved an additional 130 million euros for coal phase-out in the Czech Republic. A significant portion will go towards investments in natural gas and development of an infrastructure for recovery of energy from waste – for example, in the forestry and agriculture sectors.
According to calculations by CEE Bankwatch, the Czech plants near Vrato and Opatovice alone are getting a total of almost 350 million euros in subsidies from the EU Modernisation Fund. The non-governmental organisation verifies whether European taxpayers’ money is invested in line with the objectives. In other words, in such a manner that the environment and climate are not harmed. Morgan Henley is responsible for heating technology. He warns that the massive EU subsidies for natural gas mean that once again Europe is heading into a fossil-fuel dependency trap.
There are gigantic district heating networks in many cities of the former Eastern bloc. In the Communist Era they were ultra-modern – today they are in need of modernisation. I meet Robert Hrdina in Pardubice. The young father is concerned about his children’s future. He sits on the city’s environmental committee as a Green Party representative. He considers natural gas to be problematic because it makes people dependent on foreign imports. But: “As far as the planned fuel shift in the power plant is concerned, the transition from coal to natural gas, that will be a bit cleaner.” Hrdina emphasises: “Our district heating network currently runs on waste heat from the Opatovice power plant. Lignite is burned there and that produces nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions.”
However, Hrdina also criticises the fact that the energy-saving potential of housing is not being fully exploited: “16,000 people live in my district. Half of the apartment blocks are still not thermally insulated, even though thermal insulation would offer energy savings of 50%. This should be our top priority.”
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