The production and consumption of coal in the European Union reached in 2023 the lowest level since the beginning of the collection of statistical data, as the production dropped by 22%, compared to 2022, to 274 million tons, and the consumption decreased by 23%, up to 351 million tons, according to the preliminary data published on Monday by Eurostat.
According to the cited source, the drop of more than 100 million tons in coal consumption in a single year appears to be one of the largest reductions ever recorded for this type of fuel in the EU. Among the member states, Germany (37%) and Poland (27%) were the main consumers of coal in the EU, being responsible for almost two thirds of the total consumption, according to Agerpres.
In coal, in 2023 the production of the EU block was only 50 million tons, 82% lower than the 277 million tons produced in 1990. The EU’s coal consumption in 2023 is estimated at 128 million tons, with 42 % lower than six years ago. Poland and the Czech Republic are the only EU countries that still produce coal, and Poland is the only country that uses coal as an important source for electricity production. Comparatively, in 1990, 13 of the current EU member states produced coal.
Also, Eurostat informed on Monday that, in 2022, coal was overtaken by photovoltaic energy in the production of electricity in the European Union. The share of photovoltaic energy in the total electricity production of the EU was 210,249 GWh, compared to 205,693 GWh for coal.
Lignite, a type of coal with a lower energy content, is used in electricity production in nine EU member states, and in 2022 an amount of electricity of 241,572 GWh was produced from lignite.
In 2023, lignite consumption in the EU is estimated at 223 million tonnes, 40% lower than in 2018. Germany was responsible in 2023 for 46% of the total EU lignite consumption, followed by Poland (18%), Czech Republic (13%), Bulgaria (9%), Romania (7%) and Greece (5%). The figures regarding the production and consumption of lignite are almost identical because almost always lignite is consumed in the countries where it is also produced, being very few cross-border transactions with lignite.
On the other hand, Eurostat data shows that the EU bloc’s dependence on coal imports reached its highest level in history in 2022, when it rose to 74.4%. This increase of 14 percentage points compared to 2021 can be explained by the fact that EU countries built up their coal stocks. Unlike previous years, when EU countries tapped into their coal stocks, in 2022 these countries increased their coal stocks by nine million tonnes, the first increase in stocks since 2019. Even though it peaked in 2022 , the EU’s dependence rate on coal imports is much lower than in the case of dependence on oil and natural gas imports, which are both above 97%.
In 2022, Russia remained the largest supplier of coal to the EU, with a share of 24%, followed by the USA (18%) and Australia (17%). However, after the EU embargo on coal imports from Russia came into effect in August 2022, the bloc’s imports from Russia fell to 27 million tonnes in 2022, a 45% drop compared to 2021.