Power Statistics - 2010 Edition - Full Report - Eurelectric

The climate dimension: towards carbon-free electricity
Fossil fuel capacities remain, but a strong shift towards carbon
reduction can be witnessed.
Natural gas has been displacing oil and coal in the last
decades, creating the so-called ‘dash-for-gas’. Thanks to the
lower carbon content of the primary fuel, shorter construction
lead-times and lower capital costs, a major deployment of
combined cycle gas turbine plants (CCGTs) has been witnessed
throughout the continent, with capacity of gas-dependent
electricity increasing nearly fourfold from 37,266 MW in 1980
to 138,745 MW in 2008. Natural gas is assumed to further
increase in the upcoming decades, albeit at a slower pace.
As back-up capacity, it will play a fundamental role in flexibly
complementing the integration of intermittent renewables
electricity into the EU electricity market.
Oil-based electricity generation fell by more than 70 % between
1980 and 2008. Nevertheless, oil-fired generating units are
New installed capacities: RES dominates
As shown in Figure 12, some 25 GW of new capacity have been
added between 2007 and 2008, the majority of which (around
60 %) was RES. Looking at the conventional fleet, numbers
seem to suggest that the majority of new fossil-fuelled plants
are fired with natural gas rather than coal and oil. The reversal
of phasing out and nuclear lifetime extension in countries like
Figure 12: Generating capacity in the EU-27 in 2009 compared
to 2008 and 2007 (MW)
still used for peaking purposes, i.e. in times of high electricity
demand. Furthermore, some countries, especially small island
systems such as Malta and Cyprus, still rely on oil to generate
their electricity, although a shift towards gas is envisaged.
Among solids, coal and lignite have experienced different
evolution patterns. Despite maintaining or even increasing
its absolute volumes, hard coal saw its shares plunge from
44 % to 30 % of total fossil fuel fired production between
1980 and 2008. By contrast, the use of lignite has been
growing steadily both in absolute and in relative terms (from
16 % in 1980 to 18 % in 2008), driven by its abundance in
some EU countries.
According to EURELECTRIC’s Power Choices Study carbon
capture and storage (CCS) will influence the future use of
coal and gas in the generation mix, provided the technology
reaches maturity and commercial roll-out starts in the period
2020-2025.
Sweden and Germany add, mathematically, new capacities,
although without setting up new plants. Preliminary statistics
confirm that all generation sources increased their capacity
in 2009 compared to 2008, with RES increasing from
93,342 MW to 107,491 MW. Wind made up over two thirds of
total installed RES capacity.
2007 2008 2009 2008/2007 2009/2008
Nuclear 132,855 132,882 132,876 27 -6
Conventional Thermal 436,464 446,936 456,967 10,472 10,031
Hydro 140,894 141,788 142,617 893 829
Other RES 77,983 93,342 107,491 15,359 14,149
of which Wind 55,394 63,611 74,335 8,217 10,724
Total 791,233 815,515 841,732 24,282 26,217
Power Statistics – 2010 Edition 19