Countries turn to coal after Russian cuts

The German Government said yesterday that it remains committed to its goal of phasing out coal as a power source by 2030, despite deepening worries about a cut in Russia’s gas supplies.

Russia’s Gazprom announced last week that it was sharply reducing supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany for what it said were technical reasons. The German Government says the move appears to be politically motivated.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that Germany will try to compensate for the move by allowing increased burning of coal, a more polluting fossil fuel. Habeck, a member of the Green Party, said the move was “bitter” but “simply necessary” to lower gas usage.

In neighbouring the Netherlands, the Government announced that despite Moscow’s reductions in gas deliveries to parts of Europe it still plans to close the biggest Dutch natural gas field in 2023 or 2024.

But it will also allow coal-fired power stations to operate at full capacity again in order to conserve gas that would otherwise be burned to produce electricity.

The Government had been phasing out the use of coal to generate power by allowing coal-fired power stations to operate only to a maximum 35 per cent of their capacity in recent years as it aims to transition to sustainable energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“The risk of doing nothing is too great,” Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten said as he also appealed to businesses and homeowners to do all they can now to rein in their use of gas to prevent shortages in the winter. —AP