EU agrees coal subsidy phase-out, but loopholes remain

Kozienice power plant in Poland. (Enea)

New EU rules will make it much harder for member states to subsidise coal-fired power plants in the future, which could benefit gas.

The EU institutions finally clinched a deal on electricity market reform in Brussels during the early hours of 19 December. The agreement means power plants emitting more than 550g of CO2/kWh – which means all coal-fired plants and some older gas-fired plants – will in principle not be allowed to receive national subsidies. The rules will apply...