The European Environment Agency has released its latest indicator on Large Combustion Plants in Europe. Large combustion plants release harmful emissions and Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland account for 50% of total large combustion plants operating capacity in the EU.
- There are 3,664 large combustion plants in the EU-28.
- Installed capacity increased by 4% overall between 2004 and 2017. The trend reached a maximum in 2012.
- The use of biomass, tripled from 2004 to 2017, although it was still used in relatively low amounts (6% of the total in 2017).
- Solid fuels (coal, lignite, peat and other solid fossil fuels) and natural gas remain the main sources of fuel input but the amount used decreased by around 25% in the period. This could reflect the shift in Europe’s energy system from oil, coal and gas to renewable sources.
- The installed capacity of large combustion plants is not equally distributed across Europe: Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain and France (in order of rank), accounted for more than 65% of total fuel input and operating capacity in 2017.
Source – European Environment Agency