Gas to coal switching to continue in European power markets?

This report analyses the behaviour of the European power market for Q1 2023. Unprecedented gas prices impacted heavily on gas-fired generation costs, offsetting the effect of the increase in coal and carbon prices on coal-fired generation costs. The attached chart shows the impact of gas prices on estimated gas and coal fired generation variable costs for estimated average power plants. However, since the second half of December 2022, gas prices experienced a decline while carbon prices remain relatively high. This create favourable conditions for a shift from coal to gas after nearly one year and a half of uneconomical conditions […]