‘Death spiral’: half of Europe’s coal plants are losing money

Air pollution and climate change policies are pushing coal-fired electricity stations to the brink, says a new report. Closing them would avoid a22bn in losses by 2030

More than half of the European Union's 619 coal-fired power stations are losing money, according to a new report. As a result, the industry's slow plans for shutdowns will lead to a22bn in losses by 2030 if the EU fulfils its pledge to tackle climate change, the report warns.

Stricter air pollution rules and higher carbon prices are set to push even more plants into unprofitability, according to the analysts Carbon Tracker, with 97% of the plants losing money by 2030. Furthermore, rapidly falling renewables costs are on track to make building new wind and solar farms cheaper than continuing to run existing coal plants by the mid 2020s.