07 January 2022

Czech Republic commits to 2033 coal exit which will need to be sped up

PRAGUE, 7 January 2022 – The Czech Republic has announced it will exit coal by 2033.  It’s the 22nd European country to announce a coal exit date, but overshoots the date that would be compatible with the UN Paris climate agreement by three years. The announcement is part of the new Czech government’s programme published today. 

“It’s momentous that the Czech government understands that we are in the end game for European coal, but its 2033 coal phase out commitment means it’s getting off on the wrong foot. The Czech government knows all too well that climate science tells us that European countries need to phase out coal by 2030. It must accelerate the plan,” said Mahi Sideridou, Europe Beyond Coal’s Managing Director. 

The previous Czech government launched a coal commission in 2020, which returned three coal phase out scenarios: 2033, 2038 and 2043, before formally recommending 2038. All scenarios were modelled on an Emissions Trading System price of 30 euros per tonne in 2030 despite prices already being north of 80 euros per tonne today. They also assume an unnecessarily modest growth in renewable energy production, and do not foresee any coal plants closing before 2029.

“We see country-level coal exit plans accelerating across Europe and believe that the Czech Republic will phase out coal before 2030 in the end like the other responsible and developed European countries. But even the inadequate coal phase out date in 2033 sends a clear signal to Czech energy industry that the plans to expand Bílina mine or to retrofit old coal power plants have to be abandoned now,” said Lukáš Hrábek, Press Officer at Greenpeace Czech Republic.

Alongside the government’s coal phase-out pledge, the market is also beginning to move. Czech utility ČEZ has announced it will drastically cut coal from its power and heating operations, lowering the amount of electricity it produces from coal from 39 percent to 12.5 percent by 2030 [1]. Meanwhile, reports by BloombergNEF [2] and UK think tank, Ember [3] show that a 2030 coal exit can be achieved if economics are left to determine the energy mix, and investments in renewable energy production are made at a rate similar to other EU countries.

“Now that the Czech Republic finally has its coal phase out date, it is important to focus on managing the transition from fossil-based to renewable-based economy. Many precious years have been lost due to the indecisiveness of the previous governments. It is time to start taking just transition seriously and make sure the people in the coal mining regions are being heard and supported,” says Kateřina Davidová, Project Coordinator at the Centre for Transport and Energy.

ENDS

NOTES

  1. https://beyond-coal.eu/2021/05/20/cez-announces-plan-to-slash-coal-by-2030-ahead-of-czech-government-coal-exit-vote/
  2. https://assets.bbhub.io/professional/sites/24/BloombergNEF-Decarbonization-of-Eastern-Europe’s-Energy-Mix-Key-to-Higher-EU-Climate-Goals-Nov-2020.pdf 
  3. https://ember-climate.org/project/coal-free-czechia-2030/ 
  4. Why Europe must phase-out coal by 2030 to respect the UN Paris climate agreement: https://climateanalytics.org/briefings/coal-phase-out/
  5. Overview of national coal phase out commitments: https://beyond-coal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Briefing-Overview-of-National-Coal-Phase-out-Commitments-28-October-2021-10.pdf
  6. Details of new Czech government’s programme: https://www.vlada.cz/cz/jednani-vlady/programove-prohlaseni/programove-prohlaseni-vlady-193547/

Contacts:

Alastair Clewer, Senior Communications Manager, Europe Beyond Coal (English)
[email protected], +49 176 433 07 185

Mahi Sideridou, Managing Director, Europe Beyond Coal campaign
(Greek, English, French) [email protected], +45 93 602033

Lukas Hrabek, Press Officer, Greenpeace Czech Republic (English, Czech)
[email protected] , +420 603 443 140 

Kateřina Davidová, Project Coordinator, Centre for Transport and Energy (English, Czech)
​​[email protected], +420 734 670 514

About: 

Europe Beyond Coal is an alliance of civil society groups working to catalyse the closures of coal mines and power plants, prevent the building of any new coal projects and hasten the just transition to clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our groups are devoting their time, energy and resources to this independent campaign to make Europe coal free by 2030 or sooner. www.beyond-coal.eu 

Read also
BLOG
REPORT
BRIEFING
PRESS RELEASE
INFOGRAPHIC

12 February 2025

A new investigation by NGO groups Beyond Fossil Fuels and Re-set suggests that promises by major European power company EPH that it will move away from coal by 2030 are not necessarily to be taken at face value.

BLOG
REPORT
BRIEFING
PRESS RELEASE
INFOGRAPHIC

12 February 2025

This report looks at the relationship between the sister companies EPH and EP Energy Transition (EPETr), both of which are owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský. EPH was established in 2009 and has since become a key player in the European energy market, with holdings across Europe. This report is based on an investigation carried out by researchers at FIND and commissioned by Beyond Fossil Fuels and our Re-set, due to concerns over the companies’ restructuring used to mask continued investment in coal while presenting a “cleaner” energy profile to investors and policy makers. The research finds that:

BLOG
REPORT
BRIEFING
PRESS RELEASE
INFOGRAPHIC

10 February 2025

Climate supporters held a 5×1.5m banner reading “Big Tech, time to dump fossil fuels”, and carried 1.5m diameter black heart-shaped balloons highlighting the “toxic love” connection between Big Tech and fossil energies.

BLOG
REPORT
BRIEFING
PRESS RELEASE
INFOGRAPHIC

10 February 2025

The growth of new data centres could put a strain on Europe’s power systems, undermining its climate ambitions, according to a new study by Beyond Fossil Fuels.[1] It reveals that data centre growth in Europe is leading to a surge in power demand, posing a serious risk of escalating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)—either through expanded gas infrastructure or by pushing other sectors onto fossil fuels.