Coal-fired power plants: cheap electricity vs. clean environment

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the importance of coal-fired power plants on the market of electric energy, with emphasis on aspects that fundamentally affect their production. Coal-fired power plants belongs nowadays among socially unpopular source of electricity. In recent decades intensively growing interest groups that support state intervention and regulation of the energy sector. This is essentially a massive promotion of renewable energy sources at the expense of fossil fuel plants. Analysis of individual power sources shows that despite the current restrictive measures imposed on power plants burning fossil fuels, and especially coal-fired power plants, electricity produced from coal resources is still competitive, despite some drawbacks has many positive qualities. Coal-fired power plants produce higher amounts of greenhouse gases and other pollutants than other types of power plants. On the other hand, they are able to provide a stable supply of electricity to transmission network, and thus partially offset the high volatility of electricity supply from renewable energy sources. The price of electricity from coal-fired power plants could be considered as relatively low in comparison with other energy sources. The analysis shows that in terms of practical economic policy is not economically justified to reduce the proportion of coal-fired power plants in the total production of electricity.