GRAPHIC-High European Gas Prices Push Power Producers Back to Coal
- The Iran-US war choked LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, sending benchmark European gas prices above €80 per megawatt hour this month, their highest in three years. Soaring prices are driving European utilities back to coal.
- Coal and lignite plants have become more profitable to run than gas-fired equivalents for the first time since 2024, ICIS data indicates, reversing the economics that previously pushed coal out of the European electricity mix.
- Almost all remaining spare coal capacity is constrained by plant availability, and coal-fired generation is expected to be close to its practical limit in the fourth quarter, Veyt data showed.
- Coal is expected to remain cheaper than gas for power generation through next year and potentially until March 2028, said Veyt analyst Marta Wroniszewska. Longer-dated gas prices indicate traders expect supply constraints to persist.
- Even if the price of gas reaches €100/MWh, the power sector could not react that much more, ICIS analyst Florian Boehnke said. While renewables can offset some fossil-fuel generation, their output depends on weather conditions.
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Coal plants are more profitable than gas plants for the first time since at least 2024 – Gas prices hit a high of over 80 euros/MWh in September The post High gas prices push producers to coal appeared first on in.gr.
Gas depletion makes coal a more cost-effective option for European electricity producers, and Germany is approaching the limit of remaining capacity.
EADaily, September 24, 2026 – The stunning rise in gas prices in Europe has made coal electricity production more profitable, but the EU has already shut down most of its capacity and will not be too flexible.
High European Gas Prices, Coupled With Bad Energy Policies, Push Power Back to Coal - Energy News Beat
Europe spent a decade congratulating itself for pushing coal to the edge of the power system. Then it priced itself back onto the fuel it spent political capital destroying.Benchmark Dutch TTF gas prices spiked above €80 per megawatt-hour this month, the highest in three years, after the Iran conflict choked LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. T
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