Gas displaced coal in Europe's shrinking thermal gap 2019: EnAppSys

London — Gas displaced coal in Europe's shrinking fossil-fired generation sector in 2019 as strong gains for wind and reduced demand helped to offset falling nuclear and hydro, energy consultancy EnAppSys said in its annual report Tuesday.

Coal- and lignite-fired generation across Europe fell by a combined 159 TWh to 420 TWh, EnAppsSys said based on its analysis of aggregated TSO data on the Entso-e platform.

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Gas generation, meanwhile, increased 55 TWh to 501 TWh climbing to the second-place in Europe's generation mix.

This dramatic shift, largely based on rising carbon and falling gas prices, has brought down carbon emissions in Europe's power sector significantly despite major declines for nuclear (down 27 TWh on 2018) and hydro (down 49 TWh).

Wind output was up 35 TWh while solar rose 3 TWh.

Overall, generation was down 5% or 147 TWh on 2018, which should reflect a similar decline in demand for electricity across Europe.

Although the data depends on correct reporting to Entso-e, EnAppSys says that there is enough complete data to show key market trends to provide a view of fuel mix activity across Europe.

German gas generation varies most with some industrial and smaller urban CHP plants exempt from reporting.

EUROPEAN POWER GENERATION 2019

Source: EnAppSys