4 ms·
Coal is much cheaper than gas.
by fsh 4mo ago
Coal is much cheaper than gas.
- usefulcat 4mo agoIs it cheaper per MW of generated power? I thought that the main reason use of gas has increased so much (for power generation) over the past 20-30 years is that gas became cheaper.
- throwaway473825 4mo agoIt depends on the region. The US has shale gas which is genuinely cheaper than coal. Europe doesn't want to use coal for political reasons. China and India barely use gas since it can't compete with coal.
- citrin_ru 4mo agoGas allows to use combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) which is more efficient and it makes gas cheaper for electricity generation.
- throwaway473825 4mo agoThat's still not enough to bridge the gap between coal and gas. See for example this article: https://www.ffe.de/en/publications/merit-order-shifts-and-their-impact-on-the-electricity-price/ https://www.ffe.de/en/publications/merit-order-shifts-and-th... The US is an anomaly due to shale gas: https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/05/11/how-much-has-shale-gas-saved-u-s-consumers/ https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/05/11/how-much-has-s...
- citrin_ru 4mo agoGas prices vary across the world, mostly depending on if it's only LNG imports (high prices) or local sources (much cheaper, e. g. the US) or a mix (e. g. Europe but since 2022 it's heavy reliant on LNG which pushes prices up). Coal prices also vary. Guess we cannot compare gas and coal prices globally, only withing a specific region.
- enoint 4mo agoNot per-MWh in North America.