Energy: Imports

(asked on 1st June 2015) - View Source

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of coal used in UK energy generation is imported; and from which countries coal is imported.


Answered by
Andrea Leadsom Portrait
Andrea Leadsom
This question was answered on 4th June 2015

DECC does not hold figures on the proportion of coal used in UK electricity generation from imports.

However, in 2014, 34,174 thousand tonnes of steam coal (mainly used by coal-fired power stations) were imported into the UK, representing 89% of coal used for electricity generation (38,398 thousand tonnes).

The table below gives the breakdown of these imports by country:

Country of origin

Steam Coal Imports

(thousand tonnes)

Share of all steam coal imports

Russia

15,831

46.3%

Colombia

9,269

27.1%

United States of America

7,687

22.5%

European Union (1)

690

2.0%

Republic of South Africa

129

0.4%

Other Countries

569

1.7%

Total all countries

34,174

(1) European Union includes non-EU routed through the Netherlands

Source: Energy Trends tables 2.1 and 2.4, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends.

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