This Country Will Be Coal-Free… Nine Years Early!

With the closing of its last coal plant planned in November of 2021, Portugal will become the fourth European country to be coal-free, nine years prior to its original goal.

“In four years, Portugal has gone from having a rough strategy to exit coal by 2030, to concrete plans to be coal-free by year’s end,” says Kathrin Gutmann, Europe Beyond Coal campaign director. “Sines [coal plant] going offline even earlier than expected underscores the reality that once a country commits to clean energy, the economics of renewables deliver the transition very quickly.”

The 1296 MW Sines coal plant, owned by EDP Renováveis, closed in January of this year, and when the last one – Pego – will shut down by the end of 2021, Portugal will have completely eliminated coal, like Belgium, Austria, and Sweden already did. EDP Group will receive $79 million [€65 million] from the European Investment Bank to help the company build and operate two onshore wind farms in Coimbra and Guarda.