Portugal has confirmed it will close its two remaining coal-fired power plants before 2030, phasing out electricity generation from the so-called dirty fossil fuel, as the country joins the UK and Canada in a bid to spread international action against carbon emissions.
Environment minister Joao Matos said last week the government will close the 1,100-megawatt (MW) Sines and the 577 MW Pego coal-fired power plants, as well as reform the domestic carbon tax and remove tax exemptions for coal-fired generation from next year.
The idea is to encourage electricity producers to move away from coal, and instead focus on renewable sources, mostly solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity to help the country achieve its “carbon neutral by 2050” target.
Electricity produced from burning coal increased by 2 terawatt-hours (TWh) during the January-October period, in comparison to the same period last year, to 11.3 TWh. The surge reflected weaker hydro generation due to low reserve levels.
Portugal is one of the 25 parties signed into the Powering Past Coal Alliance, led by the UK and Canada, launched last week in the COP23 in Germany. The plan aims to get the world to move from burning coal to cleaner power sources, Kallanish Energy reports.
Under the agreement, coal phase-out is needed no later than 2030 in the OECD and EU28 countries, and no later than 2050 in the rest of the world. The alliance members commit to taking action such as setting coal phase-out targets and ending further investments in coal-fired electricity domestically and abroad.
“Reducing global coal consumption should be a vital and urgent priority for all countries and states. Unabated coal is the dirtiest, most polluting way of generating electricity,” said the UK minister for climate change and industry, Claire Perry.
The UK is shutting all its unabated coal-fired plants by 2025 – such plants don’t have treatment systems to substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions and emit twice as much CO2 as gas per unit of electricity.
