Carrying coals to Germany: Imports still vital despite sagging demand – Times of Oman

Carrying coals to Germany: Imports still vital despite sagging demand – Times of Oman

Energy generation in Germany by burning lignite and hard coal has decreased significantly in the past couple of years. The government's resolve to exit coal as an energy source by 2038 at the latest as part of a larger climate protection program is bound to accelerate this trend.

The country is also phasing out nuclear energy, meaning that renewables “” wind and solar in particular “” will have to assume an ever-increasing role in providing the nation with the energy it needs to keep playing in the top league of industrialised nations.

But a complete coal exit is almost two decades away. Right now, coal-based energy generation in Germany still accounts for roughly a quarter of the total energy produced.

What's relevant in this context is that hard coal mining has already been stopped in the country. The last mine at Bottrop in western Germany closed as early as December 2018.

The same fate is eventually awaiting the coal-fired power plants. Under the current coal exit scheme, all remaining coal-powered stations will shut down by 2038.

The controversial opening in May of a new such power plant, Datteln 4, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is viewed as a bad joke by environmentalists, but