According to the Russian Ministry of energy (Minenergo), coal generation will retain its share in the global power mix despite systematic development of clean energy since coal has significant competitive advantages over renewables.
Under the estimates of the deputy Russian energy minister Anatoly Yanovskiy, clean coal generation is 1.3 times cheaper than wind output and 1.9 times cheaper than solar generation. Gas and clean coal technologies remain the cheapest for the construction and operation of power plants as the cost of hard coal generation is 67-91 USD/MWh, brown coal generation – 75-88 USD/MWh, and natural gas generation – 64-91 USD/MWh. At the same time, wind output costs may reach 85-121 USD/MWh while solar power plants costs are in a range of 118-172 USD/MWh.
Europe is one of the key markets for Russian coal producers. However, plans of the EU to introduce carbon border tax on imports with large carbon footprint, as a part of its move to become carbon neutral by 2050, may hit coal business and make Russian producers divert its supplies to Asia-Pacific outlets.
Further plans also envisage an increase in export supplies, primarily of coking and high-quality thermal coal, Anatoly Yanovsky emphasized, adding that the impact of various restrictive measures on Russian energy exports will depend on the global climate change policies.
Source: CAA Analytics
