Romania will exit coal by 2032 at the latest and pass a law by mid-2022 to address the closure of mines and adopt socio-economic measures to support coal communities and the reskilling of workers, according to the country’s official recovery plan.

The document, adopted on Thursday (3 June), plans for an increase in the share of renewable energy sources in Romania’s energy mix, through investments in onshore and offshore wind electricity generation, in parallel with the removal of coal from the energy mix by 2032.

The plan is to set up a Coal Commission, like the Czech Republic and Germany have, to decide how to exit coal, so the details of the transition are yet to be fully worked out.

However, it means Romania joins the majority of EU countries that have already set a date for phasing out climate-polluting coal. 14 EU member states have already stopped using coal or have committed to do so before 2030.

With a date of 2032, Romania is not the most ambitious EU country when it comes to ditching coal, although it is several years ahead of Europe’s heaviest coal users – Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.

Guest post from EurActiv