EU must begin phasing out coal to reach climate targets

By Sibel Akbay

ISTANBUL (AA) - European Union (EU) countries need to start phasing out coal substantially from their energy mix for the EU to be able to hit its climate targets as outlined in the COP21 agreement in Paris, Patrick Graichen, executive director of Agora Energiewende, said at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Congress, of which Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner for 2016, Graichen said a decline of 68 percent in coal in power generation was projected by 2030 by Agora Energiewende, an think-tank on energy based in Berlin.

"But phasing out coal has to become a government policy and is not something that can be achieved by markets alone," Graichen emphasized.

“Coal does not just mean shutting down the power plants (functioning with coal) but it is also about the mining issue,” Graichen said.

“There are regions in Europe that are dependent on coal, on mining for a living. So this becomes an issue that is a part of structural and regional policy. This is also valid for Turkey as well," he said.

Renewables form the key point of the EU’s 2030 strategy in the transition to a low-carbon economy and will make up about 50 percent of Europe’s energy mix by 2030, according to Agora’s projections. The share of wind and solar power in the energy mix is estimated to be about 30 percent.

Fintan Slye, chief executive officer of EirGrid, a state-run company operating the national electricity grid in Ireland, said a clear design, which recognizes and rewards a market with large amounts of renewables in it has to be established for successful European market integration.

“We should also have a market design that encourages innovation,” Slye said, adding that “because only through innovation, can we hit these climate change goals.”