Currently, there is a lot of debate going on in the Netherlands whether the deregulation of the electricity market is actually working yes or no. The power-consuming industry believes the prices are artificially placed on a too high level and are undermining their competitiveness. It is expected that due to the upcoming CO2 emissions trading in the European Union the power prices will rise even more. With coal generally being the fuel with most CO2 emissions, emissions trading will certainly have its impact on the place of coal in the fuel mix for the power production. Surprisingly though, some large power-consumers recently announced plans to build a new coal-fired plant by themselves to undercut the power of the oligopoly of power producers in the Benelux. They believe coal is an excellent fuel for cheap baseload power generation Then maybe the prospects for coal as a fuel for power are not so bad? Kasper Walet and Cyriel de Jong of Maycroft Consultancy guide you through these issues and the impact on the coal industry.