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Coal demand will be flat to 2022 – IEA

The world is in the midst of a ‘decade of stagnation’ for coal consumption according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), with its latest coal market report predicting demand for the fuel remaining flat between 2017 and 2022.

Coal 2017 from the IEA says that global coal consumption fell 1.9% to 5,360mn tonnes of coal equivalent (Mtce) last year – the second year of decline – due to lower gas prices, a surge in renewables and improvements in energy efficiency. 

Coal demand is down 4.2% over the last two years, says the IEA, which nearly matches the two-year decline in coal demand in the early 1990s – the biggest recorded drop since the IEA started compiling statistics more than 40 years ago.

The IEA predicts that global coal demand will be 5,530 Mtce in 2022, contributing 26% of the global energy mix in that year from 27% in 2016. The IEA predicts that coal-fired power generation will rise by 1.2% per year from 2016 to 2022, however its share of the power mix will fall to 36% (due to rising electricity consumption) – the lowest level the IEA has recorded.

Globally, the picture is mixed. In 2016 coal demand dropped in China, the US and the EU, but increased in India and across areas of Southeast Asia. The IEA predicts that Indian coal-fired power generation will grow by 4% a year through 2022, and that China’s supply-side reforms will be a critical factor for coal prices in the coming years. 

The European Union, accounting today for 6% of global demand, is set to become an increasingly marginal player, says the IEA.

News Item details


Journal title: Energy World

Subjects: Coal, Fuel consumption

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