The Austrian government has decided to use coal power to produce electricity in case curtailed Russian gas supply creates an energy emergency in the nation.
“The federal government and the energy group VERBUND have agreed to convert the Mellach (Styria) district heating power plant, which is currently shut down, so that in an emergency it can once again produce electricity from coal (not gas),” Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s office said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Mellach was Austria’s last coal-fired power plant. It was converted to a gas plant and put on standby in 2020.
At present, Austria’s gas storage facilities are filled at 39 percent. This number needs to go up to 80 percent by October 2022 to ensure that the country is ready for the heating season. The most important thing right now is to make sure that “acute gas demand” is met and “gas supplies for the winter” are created, the chancellor said, according to The Local….