Recently we have witnessed the shaping of new EU power and climate policy. New directions for the development are being set in the form of the goals defined in the Climate Package or in the attempts to propose the EU point of view during the Copenhagen summit. It also seems than significant effort has been put into the broader application of renewable energy sources.

These actions undoubtedly deserve attention but it is worth considering whether renewable energy sources alongside nuclear power plants will be able to provide continuous and safe supplies of electric energy for the EU economy.

The Climate Package Goal

The European Union set a very ambitious task for the member states to achieve 20 percent energy share in its total consumption from the renewable sources by 2020 which means over 30 percent of electric energy generation. The EU goal was divided between the member states based on the particular country’s access to renewable resources. According to statistical data, renewable sources amount to 14 percent of electric energy generation on average for all 27 European Union states. In order to achieve the goal set in the Climate Package we are ahead of significant investments in this respect. Undoubtedly, because of economic and technical accessibility of renewable sources such investments will be complicated and expensive.

System Operation Stability

Significant amount of such renewable sources works in a random manner dependent on the meteorological conditions. It means that in order to secure an appropriate capacity volume one needs other energy sources as the basis. Nuclear power plants and coal-fired ones play this role in the European Union. Additionally we need sources to be used in peak times. Most frequently these are gas power plant, peak power plants and coal-fired power plants. One should also bear in mind that in case of operation of many stochastic sources– for example wind farms, it is necessary to provide the hot reserve in the conventional installations which can quickly supply the system when needed. Nuclear power plants cannot be used for that purpose. One is therefore left with gas and coal – particularly the hard coal. According to data published in Germany where thee are relatively large number of wind mills the level of indispensible hot reserve exceeds 90 percent of operation wind farms capacity. It shows the enormous volume of the necessary reserve. One should mention at this point that crude oil has similar characteristics to coal and gas but its share in the installed capacity and electric energy generation does not exceed 4 percent in the European Union.

Vision of the Future EU Power Sector

Due to the characteristic of coal-fired power units, their flexibility and capability of operation in various situations, coal remains a crucial element of EU energy-mix in the long-term perspective. Numerous coal resources located all over the world, including many member states of the European Union, transportation capabilities and price stability are all in favor of coal. It all enhances the EU security and decreases Union dependence on the energy sources imports. According to the Financial Times, 24 percent of electric energy generated in the European Union will come from coal in 2030. The study carried out for the Eurelectric, which was used to analyze the possibilities of CO2 emission reduction in the EU by 75 percent by 2050 also clearly showed the necessity of continuous application of coal and gas. Power plants which apply these fuels – already equipped with the CCS will then generate 30 percent of electric energy and further 5 percent will be generated from fossil fuels without carbon capture and storage. One can easily see the enormous role of coal to be played in medium and long term perspectives. Coal technologies are being constantly developed, unit efficiency is growing and emission of pollutants has been significantly reduced. The waste generated has become raw materials sold by power plants and applied on a massive scale in construction and civil engineering industries. CCS technology application on a wider scale will be the next step. This will become viable once the technology is commercially accessible. The flue gas desulphurizing technology had a very similar history. Most probably the carbon dioxide capture, with time, will become a standard process in coal-fired power plants operation. Despite the increase in renewable sources application, coal will certainly not disappear from the European energy-mix.

Stanisław Tokarski

Jerzy Janikowski