02 December 2023

Czech Republic joins the Powering Past Coal Alliance, accelerating the end of coal in Europe

Dubai, Saturday, December 2, 2023: Today, 10 members including the United States, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Cyprus, Norway and Dominican Republic have joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), underscoring that even the most coal-heavy countries worldwide are looking to a future beyond fossil fuels. 

OECD and EU countries make up a quarter of the world’s operating coal capacity. Only five European countries including Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania and Malta are not yet PPCA members.

“The Czech Republic stood alongside Germany and Poland as one of the three big coal laggards in the EU. Today’s announcement shows that like most European nations, it is looking to a future beyond coal that is more secure, more economic, and above all: more sustainable. Now the Czech Republic has a great opportunity to tap into its immense solar and wind potential, which currently accounts for less than four percent of the country’s power, and bring forward its coal exit in line with Europe’s climate goals,” said Alexandru Mustață, Campaigner at Beyond Fossil Fuels. 

To be compatible with the goals of the UN Paris climate agreement, the Czech Republic’s planned coal end date of 2033 should be moved forward by three years. As the third largest coal-fired emission generator in Europe, the country has been slow to invest in renewable energy, increasing electricity generation from solar and wind by only 13.6 percent while the EU as a whole increased almost 88 percent over the last five years [1].  

This could change rapidly, considering other PPCA members from historically coal-heavy countries like Greece and Hungary have chosen to boost renewable growth considerably. Since joining the PPCA in 2021, Hungary’s support of small energy producers contributed to a boom in rooftop solar installations, increasing the country’s solar generation by 23 percent [2].  

Notes:

  1. https://www.solarninovinky.cz/ministr-sikela-mpo-v-rozvoji-oze-jsme-zaspali-nyni-dohanime-evropu/ 
  2. Beyond Fossil Fuels Report, What happened to coal power amidst Europe’s winter crisis?, 27 April 2023

About: 

Beyond Fossil Fuels is a collective civil society campaign committed to ensuring all of Europe’s electricity is generated from fossil-free, renewable energy by 2035. It expands and builds upon the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, and its goal of a coal-free Europe in power and heat by 2030 at the latest. Beyondfossilfuels.org

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