Coal news and updates

Some German power plants could go offline if Russian coal banned now, ministry says

Germany would likely have to switch off some of its power plants if it ended Russian coal imports straight away, although its reliance on Russia for the fuel is shrinking quickly, an economy ministry report prepared for parliament showed on Tuesday. The Russian share of Germany's coal imports will drop to 25% in the next few weeks from the current 50% due to recent contract changes, the report showed. Germany could become independent from Russian coal by autumn.

However, an immediate ban on Russian coal imports would lead to "coal shortages after a few weeks". Asked about a possible date for the ban on Russian coal imports proposed by the European Union Commission, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told reporters late on Tuesday it made sense to agree the sanctions before making them public.