According to Carbon Tracker Initiative’s report released on October 24th, nearly 80% of the coal-fired power plants in Europe were unprofitable since the power generation costs of renewable energy and natural gas were much lower than coal.

In addition, in order to meet growing stricter EU air quality requirements, the coal-fired power plants needed more expensive technology. Also, increased carbon license prices might raise costs.

At present, a few EU countries have announced plans to phase out coal to meet global emission reduction targets. However, some countries such as Poland still relied on coal for most of the power generation.