Power Engineering International | By: Diarmaid Williams | October 04, 2017:
The head of the world’s eighth largest power utility says ‘new coal is finished’ and gas-fired power is set for a similar fate.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Euractiv website, Enel CEO and new president of Eurelectric, Francesco Starace said that renewables are the clear winner and gas is next for phase-out.
In response to a question on why, despite Eurelectric’s commitment to ending coal power in Europe by 2020, Greek and Polish members did not sign up, and whether he hoped to convince them during his mandate, Starace was dismissive.
“To be frank, I think they are already convinced. The Polish energy minister recently said that after the completion of three large coal-fired plants, new investments in coal will be stopped. In Greece, the Prime Minister made a statement recently about the gradual reduction in the production and burning of lignite coal. I don’t think anyone with some business sense would invest in coal generation anymore.”
“Poland is different, they have a deep relationship with coal. And I think they may have just finished building their last coal plant. And even if the Polish build a last one, so be it. It doesn’t really mean that much. Ask any company around Europe if they are planning to build a new coal plant. They will all say no. New coal is finished.”
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