In an increasingly carbon-constrained policy environment, political activists are assertive in their war on coal mining's role as the source of 30% of global primary energy consumption
and 40% of globally generated electricity. However a new report states that government policy should value the increased use of renewable energies alongside the continued use of coal, not as competition but as partners, particularly
with flexible coal power plants balancing the relatively unpredictable feed-in
of wind and solar energy.
The
World Coal Association (WCA), representing major
international coal producers and stakeholders, has welcomed the publication of
the report "The Role of Coal for Energy Security in World Regions” by the
Coal Industry Advisory Board (CIAB) to the
International Energy Agency (IEA).
WCA Chief Executive
Benjamin Sporton commented: “As
the Paris Agreement is formally adopted, it is vitally important that its
implementation integrates environmental imperatives with the aims of universal
access to energy, energy security and social and economic development.”
The report identifies the impact of coal
utilisation on energy security in regions covering two-thirds of total global
energy consumption and more than 85% of global coal demand. The role of coal in
each respective economy and its contribution to energy security is investigated
and compared between the regions and countries:
- Coal is a key component of a secure energy supply
in all the regions/countries covered. The use of coal contributes not only to
affordable energy prices, allowing broader access to electricity but also
improved industrial competitiveness of the economy.
- Applying advanced coal-based technologies,
high-efficiency low-emission (HELE) coal plants and carbon capture and storage
(CCS) technologies, contributes to improving not only the environmental impacts
but also leads to increased security of supply. HELE coal technologies provide
significant immediate CO2 emission reductions and are a key step on
the pathway to CCS.
- Coal-fired power plants provide dispatchable
capacity due to their ability to operate flexibly and compensate for the
fluctuations of wind and solar energy supply sources. In addition, coal-fired
power plants provide cost-efficient reserve capacity which is needed when there
is insufficient wind or solar power and to balance out transmission congestion.
- There is no trade-off between an increased use of
renewable energies and the use of coal: rather, coal and renewables complement
each other and are partners in the effort to meet present and future energy
requirements.
- Coal-fired power plants can also be seen as an
economic balance to the higher system costs of most renewable energies and
complementary to achieve a stable and secure power supply.
The study recommends that governments support and promote
HELE coal-fired plants and CCS technologies for significant, immediate CO2
emission reduction – and to also provide the legal framework for the long term
investment in production capacity and clean coal use necessary to support the
central targets of energy and climate policy.
Each section of the report can be downloaded by
clicking on the following links:
Regional/Country Chapters:
Dr Hans-Wilhelm Schiffer, who lead the work group
and oversaw all aspects of the report, emphasised that coal and renewables
complement each other and are partners in the effort to meet present and future
energy requirements: “Coal-fired power plants provide dispatchable capacity due
to their ability to operate flexibly and so compensate for the fluctuations of
wind and solar energy supply. In addition, coal-fired power plants can also be
seen as an economic balance to the higher system costs of most renewable
energies.”
