Renewable energies have enormous potential and are now economically advantageous in central and eastern European countries like Poland, which still rely heavily on coal, according to a report by the BloombergNEF group of experts published on Monday.
"Renewables are the cheapest source of mass electricity production for Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria", write the experts in a document devoted to these countries where coal is still very present despite its effects harmful to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
Renewable projects "becoming competitive"
On the other hand, he is not interested in Germany, a big polluter who wants to get out of coal by 2038. "New renewable projects are becoming competitive in the face of the marginal costs of existing coal and gas power plants" , according to these experts.
By following the policy of least cost, these countries could reach a share of 47% for renewables in electricity production by 2030, against only 31% in their current national plans in terms of energy and climate.
They could thus deploy more than 50 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity, including 25 GW of wind and 29 GW of solar. This would mean an acceleration compared to the current trend, except in Poland where the deployment of renewables has already accelerated in the past two years.
Significant drops in CO2 emissions
According to BNEF experts, this represents almost 54 billion euros in new investment opportunities, with the prospect of 45,000 associated jobs, which would be welcome in these times of post-Covid-19 economic recovery.
This boom in renewables would allow a 50% drop in CO2 emissions from the electricity sector in these four countries, or 114 million tonnes. This is a significant contribution of 6% to the emission reduction targets of the European Union, according to BNEF.
For these changes to materialize, public support favorable to wind and solar power will be needed, which offers a certain stability and makes it possible to overcome the occasional reluctance of certain residents. It will also be necessary to ensure that carbon prices do not fall in Europe, adds the report.
Planet
Huge losses, increased competition… In Europe, the profitability of coal plants in free fall
Strasbourg
Fessenheim shutdown: After 43 years of struggle, "we are no longer afraid of having a major nuclear accident"
- Czech republic
- Poland
- Coal
- renewable energy
- energy