Cuts to coal power improve Europe’s air quality: The European Environment Agency (EEA) estimates Europe’s industrial air pollution has fallen by one-third over the decade to 2021, with 80 per cent of the reduction due to energy and climate policies affecting the energy sector. The review assessed emissions from 9400 industrial plants and found that 107 operations caused 50 per cent of the total damage. The EEA found that 22 of the 50 most polluting facilities in 2021 were lignite or hard coal power stations, with nine in Germany and six in Poland. The EEA estimates air pollution from Europe’s industrial plants imposes costs on society of between €268 billion (US$290 billion) to €428 billion (US$464 billion) per year and €4.3 trillion between 2012 and 2021. (RenewEconomy, European Environment Agency, European Environment Agency [Pdf])

IEA slow decline in coal generation over next three years: The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Electricity 2024 report estimates renewables will increase from a 30 per cent share of generation in 2023 to a 37 per cent share in 2026, mainly due to the rapid increase in new solar capacity. Global coal generation is projected to fall by an average of 1.7 per cent a year to 2026, while electricity demand will increase from 2.2 per cent in 2023 to an average of 3.4 per cent a year from 2024 through 2026. All additional electricity demand in China will be met by renewable generation, with increased coal generation capacity lowering the utilisation rate for the coal fleet. In India, the IEA estimates electricity demand growth will exceed six per cent a year through to 2026, underpinned by increased air conditioning load and strong economic growth. Coal generation in India is projected to grow by about 2.5 per cent annually through to 2026, catering for approximately one-third of the increased electricity demand. Coal generation in Southeast Asia is forecast to rise by about four per cent annually to 2026. The IEA estimates global greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector could fall by 2.4 per cent in 2024, with smaller falls in 2025 and 2026. (International Energy Agency [Pdf])

Turkey set to become Europe’s biggest coal generator: Turkey is on track to displace Germany as Europe’s largest coal power generator in 2024. Higher prices for imported fuel have hit Turkish power utilities as the currency weakened dramatically after the central bank increased interest rates to combat high inflation. In a switch away from reliance on imported gas, utilities increased coal generation by 3.5 per cent in 2023 to a 37 per cent share of generation. Turkey imported 39.3 million tonnes of coal in 2023. (Reuters)

US court rules California developer can proceed with coal terminal: The City of Oakland has appealed against the decision of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Noel Wise allowing the development of a coal terminal in Oakland. Late last year, Wise ruled the City of Oakland had breached its contract with Phil Tagami, who had sought damages of almost US$160 million over the cancellation of his contract for the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT). Wise gave Tagami the option of either accepting US$318,000 in damages or reinstating the contract with construction to begin by July 2026. Tagami opted to reinstate the contract. The City of Oakland’s appeal means work on the site cannot proceed until the legal case has been resolved. Part of the original proposal was for the state of Utah to invest US$53 million in the port to provide another option for Utah coal producers to access the Asian market. Environmental groups have vowed to continue opposition to the project. (San Francisco Chronicle, Salt Lake Tribune, No Coal in Oakland, Sierra Club)

Australian whistleblower revives coal test results controversy: A former employee of Peabody Coaltrade Australia, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy, alleged in a submission to an Australian parliamentary inquiry that the company falsified coal quality test results for export shipments to increase the sale price. The submission stated that the moisture content result was often reduced by 1.5 per cent, which raised the calorific value of the coal by 1.8 per cent. The whistleblower said that on a 70,000-tonne shipment with coal at US$200 per tonne, the altered test results increased the sale price by more than US$250,000. The whistleblower alleged that two testing companies, ALS and SGS, falsified test results and that the accounting firm EY approved Peabody’s accounts despite knowing the value of the coal had been inflated. Peabody Energy said that based on an investigation, the claims had not been substantiated but declined to release the investigative report on which the statement was based. EY rejected the claims, ALS declined to comment, and SGS was contacted for comment. (Sydney Morning Herald [paywall])

Australia: The Federal Court of Australia has approved a request by IG Power to appoint special administrators to investigate two major incidents at the Callide C coal plant in Queensland.

Canada: NWP Coal Canada’s proposed Crown Mountain coking coal mine in British Columbia will be open for public comment until February 28.

India: Hundreds rally in a motorbike convoy protest against Adani’s proposed Gondalpara coal mine in Jharkhand.

India: Protest calls on the Mormugao Port Authority to control coal dust pollution in Mormugao.

India: Students from the Mul Dwarka school in Gujarat blocked a road in a protest against air pollution from transporting coal and gypsum from the port to a nearby cement plant.

India: The Minister for Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, has requested private owners of imported coal plants to modify the power stations to run on domestic coal.

Kazakhstan: The Ministry of Industry and Construction expects coal production to increase this decade to meet domestic demand and as an alternative for European importers previously reliant on Russian cargoes.

Russia: Ukrainian drones struck the UstLuga oil and coal export terminal near St. Petersburg, causing a fire at the gas storage facility.

Uzbekistan: The Ministry of Ecology points to a 72 per cent increase in coal use since 2019 as a factor behind the country’s growing air pollution problem.

Coal production plummets from Uinta Basin in the US: Coal production from the Uinta Basin in Colorado and Utah has plummeted by 24 per cent in the last year, with further decline expected in 2024. In late 2023, American Consolidated Natural Resources announced it would retrench about 150 employees at the Lila Canyon underground mine in Utah on January 19 due to the ongoing impacts of a fire. The fire broke out in September 2022 at the site of the company’s longwall mining equipment. The company produced about 2.3 million short tons (2.1 million tonnes) in 2022, which fell to 150,000 short tons (136,000 tonnes) in 2023. The production of low-sulphur coal from the Uinta Basin boomed in the 1990s with pressure on power utilities to cut sulphur dioxide emissions, but the installation of scrubbers on many plants undercut the key advantage of Uinta Basin coal. S&P Global Commodity Insights estimates coal production from the Uinta Basin in the first three quarters of 2023 was 54.6 per cent lower compared to a decade ago and projects it could fall to 9 million short tons (8.2 million tonnes) by 2030, a 60.9 per cent decline from 2023 levels. (S & P Global)

Forecast fall in battery prices to hit fossil fuels: A report by RMI estimates the exponential growth in battery deployment will exceed both the International Energy Agency’s projections and BNEF’s 2023 forecast. RMI notes that with every doubling of deployment, battery costs have fallen by 19 per cent and energy density has increased by 7 per cent. In the electricity sector, RMI estimates that batteries could displace up to 15 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions yearly as accelerating deployment is used to store electricity from wind and solar. The report also notes that rapid deployment of batteries in the auto sector will have spillover benefits in the power sector. “A battery that only has 70 per cent of its total depth of charge left due to degradation may no longer be useful in a car (due to limited range) but can still serve well as stationary storage on the grid,” the report states. In its latest battery outlook, BNEF estimates rapid investment in battery manufacturing has outpaced demand and will drive prices down in 2024. BNEF estimates stationary battery storage capacity could grow by 40 per cent in 2024 to 57 gigawatts (136 gigawatt-hours) and expects the duration of storage projects to increase. (RMI, RMI [Pdf], BNEF)

South African coal terminal lowers export target for 2024: Coal exports from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in 2023 were 47.21 million tonnes of coal, the lowest level since 1992. The terminal has a nominal capacity of 91 million tonnes a year. Exports have fallen from a 2017 peak of 75.6 million tonnes of coal, mainly due to problems encountered by the government-owned rail operator Transnet Freight Services. Transnet has suffered from persistent security problems, the theft of vital copper cabling and the lack of spare parts for its rolling stock. RBCT, which is jointly owned by 12 coal mining companies, primarily exports coal to the Asian market, with India accounting for almost 20 million tonnes in 2023. RBCT said it has set a “realistic” export target of 50 million tonnes of coal in 2024. (News24, BusinessLive, Mining Weekly)

Approval for expansion of Mozambique coal port: Mozambique has approved an extension to 2058 on the lease held by a consortium led by DP World and Grindrod for the Port of Maputo. The companies have proposed a US$2 billion investment plan to expand the port’s capacity. The port currently has a capacity of 37 million tonnes annually, with about 25 million tonnes of minerals, including coal, exported in 2023. As part of the agreement, a priority will be expanding the capacity of Grinrod’s Matola Coal Terminal from 7.5 million tonnes a year to 18 million tonnes a year. With persistent problems experienced by South African coal producers with Transnet’s operation to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal in South Africa, some mining companies have turned to trucking coal to the Matola terminal. (News24, The Maritime Executive)

Power price hike for Wyoming consumers to cover costs of CCS mandate: The Wyoming Public Service Commission has approved an application from Black Hills Energy for a 0.67 per cent “low-carbon” surcharge on its 145,000 customers in Wyoming under the provisions of a 2020 law requiring the retrofitting of coal plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS) as an alternative to closing. The power price increase covers a US$1.1 million annual cost to assess the viability of retrofitting CCS to the utility’s two plants. The current estimated costs of CCS for the utility’s plants are US$500 million for the 95 MW Wygen II coal plant and about US$475 million for the 90 MW Neil Simpson II plant plants. Rocky Mountain Power, which has three coal units subject to the law at the Dave Johnston plant and the Jim Bridger plant, is already raising US$2 million a year from its 144,000 Wyoming customers in the state from a 0.3 per cent CCS surcharge that came into effect in February 2023. (Wyofile)

India approves up to US$1 billion subsidies for coal gasification projects: The Modi government has approved the expenditure of up to 85 billion rupees (US$1.02 billion) for projects to convert coal and lignite into gas. The government is promoting coal gasification to reduce India’s reliance on imported fuel. The cabinet agreed to allocate up to 40.5 billion rupees (US$487 million) to be split between three coal gasification projects proposed by publicly-owned companies, with up to 13.5 billion rupees (US$162 million) or 15 per cent of the capital cost of each project, whichever is the lower amount. The cabinet also allocated 38.5 billion rupees (US$463 million) in grants for private sector projects with up to 10 billion rupees (US$120 billion) or 15 per cent of the capital cost, whichever is the lesser. The cabinet also approved two coal gasification projects: a joint venture between Coal India and GAIL (originally known as the Gas Authority of India Ltd) and a joint venture between Coal India and Bharat Heavy Electricals. Adani, the largest private coal mining company in India, has been promoting the provision of government funding to close the “viability gap” of coal gasification projects. (Reuters, Ministry of Coal)