High gas prices to sustain European coal burn

摘要

High natural gas prices in Europe are likely to sustain coal-fred electricity generation in 2022, with gas demand to fall by 4pc over the year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. This will continue a trend from the fourth quarter, when coal-fred plants in northwest Europe increased their output by 20pc from a year earlier, while gas-fred generation fell by over 7pc, as record-high gas prices supported gas-to-coal switching, the IEA said in its quarterly gas market outlook for the frst quar ter.