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Lessons from Europe’s coal power collapse
by Julia Pazos - 29 July 2025
Across Europe, coal power is on its last legs. Most European countries committed to phasing out one of the dirtiest fossil fuels from their power sectors over the past decade. Now those commitments are starting to materialise. The summer of 2025 marks a historic moment: two of Europe’s largest economies, Italy and Spain, are preparing to end coal power generation on the mainland, following closely on the heels of Ireland’s coal exit in June and the UK’s in 2024.
These closures are not isolated events. They are part of a broader transformation already reshaping the European energy landscape from fossil fuels to renewables-based.
