UK coal set to suffer huge losses in 2019
The UK’s coal plants face losses of £629m in 2019, according to a new report released this morning by Carbon Tracker.
Drax Group will be hit hardest in the UK, with £171m in losses expected by the year end. E.ON and EDF Group will also be hit for more than £100m, with costs of £143m and £101m respectively.
RWE (£97m), SSE (£67m), and AES (£50m) will also be affected.
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Additional research from the think tank, which provides analysis on the impact of climate change on capital markets, shows that the damage is not confined to the UK.
Four out of five EU Coal plants are unprofitable, with utilities companies expected to lose up to £5.7bn this year.
Germany alone is facing a £1.6bn fall in profits, making it the most exposed country, closely followed by Spain and the Czech Republic.
German company RWE will be the hardest hit company, with losses across its European businesses measured at £939m, or 6 per cent of its market share.
Matt Gray, head of power and utilities at Carbon Tracker and co-author of the report, said: “EU coal generators are haemorrhaging cash because they cannotas compete with ever-cheaper renewables and gas and this will only get worse. Policymakers and investors should prepare to phase out coal by 2030 at the latest.”
Although the UK has set a 2025 deadline for its phase out, it still has the third largest coal sector in the EU, with 12GW of capacity.
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Co-author Sriya Sundaresan, senior analyst at the think tank, said: ‘The transition from coal will have impacts on many parties and what we need to communicate is that a lot of consideration of these impacts is required in the phase-out process.
“We need to act quickly and ensure that this is a just and orderly transition in order to avoid passing through costs to shareholders and consumers.”