Coal-fired electricity generation in Czechia falls by nearly 10%, by more than half at Dětmarovice

Electricity generation from hard coal and lignite in Czechia fell by 9.4% in the first 11 months of this year, according to ENTSO-E Transparency data. Hard-coal plants contributed most significantly to the decline, cutting generation by 44%. Generation at Czechia’s largest hard-coal power plant fell by 62% year on year and will drop this year to approximately a fifth of what it generated in 2016.

Electricity generation statistics for this year will most likely be full of changes. Not only is generation at natural gas-fired power plants increasing substantially thanks to favourable market conditions, but changes are also occurring at coal-fired power plants.

According to preliminary data, generation from lignite shows a decline of roughly 5%. The drop in hard coal is even more pronounced, with total generation falling from last year’s 3.2 TWh to 1.8 TWh (a decline of approximately 44%).

The volume of generation is undoubtedly being affected primarily by the high price of emission allowances. Given that coal-fired power plants emit approximately 1 tonne of CO2 per MWh of electricity generated, coal-fired electricity generation is becoming substantially more expensive and operators’ margins are falling. Their ability to compete in the market is therefore becoming increasingly difficult.

The above charts show that hard coal is losing its share of generation. In the first 11 months of this year, less electricity was generated from hard coal than by solar power plants in Czechia, and this situation is likely to remain unchanged once data for the full year are added up.

The largest contributor to the decline in hard-coal electricity generation was the Dětmarovice hard-coal power plant of ČEZ Group. It generated 62% less electricity than last year and will generate only around a fifth this year of what it generated in 2016. Generation has fallen significantly every year since then.

Over the first 11 months of this year, however, generation from lignite, which remains the main fuel for electricity generation in Czechia, declined only slightly – falling by 5.7%.

More broadly, coal-fired electricity generation in Europe is declining this year. It is primarily being replaced by gas-fired power plants, whose operation is more favourable in terms of gross margins at current electricity, emission allowance and natural gas prices. According to Carbon Brief, coal-fired electricity generation in the EU fell by 19% in the first half of this year, with the pace expected to accelerate further in the second half to an overall year-on-year decline of 23%.