EU power: from overcapacity to scarcity?

Decommissioning work at Germany's Biblis nuclear power plant. (PA)

Gas-fired power plants will likely be needed to compensate for the loss of coal and nuclear generation in Europe, but many question whether price signals are strong enough to foster new investment without subsidies.

Participants at an event in Brussels this week heard that 90 GW of thermal generation capacity will come offline between now and 2030. Although wind and solar generation will increase by more than 140 GW over the same period, these power sources pose intermittency problems. This is has led some to believe...