What carbon adds to every MWh

At EUA €77.4 (11 Jun 2026), carbon is a fuel-sized cost line. This is the conversion table between the carbon market and your energy bill.

Calculate your carbon bill →CBAM guide

The table

Natural gas — CCGT (0.37 t/MWh)€28.64

Natural gas — boiler heat (0.20 t/MWh fuel)€15.48

Coal — power (0.95 t/MWh)€73.53

Lignite — power (≈1.1 t/MWh)€85.14

Oil — boiler (≈0.27 t/MWh)€20.90

Carbon cost = emission factor (t CO2/MWh) × price. Power-sector factors per generation; boiler row per fuel MWh at ~90% efficiency. Power pays full price (no free allocation); heat in industry follows the free-allocation table.

Three consequences

Merit order: gas beats coal by ≈€45/MWh of carbon alone — why coal runs last in the EU.
Efficiency value: every MWh of gas heat you stop wasting is now worth fuel (≈€40) + carbon (≈€15 at full price) — see the business case.
Electrification math: a heat pump at COP 3 on a 200 g/kWh grid carries ≈€4.6/MWh-heat of carbon vs ≈€15 for the gas boiler it replaces.

Inzonex removable modular insulation on industrial equipment

Cut the tonnes at the source

Hot industrial equipment? Cut the heat loss.

Boilers, kilns, heat exchangers, valves and steam lines lose energy continuously. Inzonex makes patented (UK GB2508992.1) removable modular insulation — snap-fastened covers engineered per temperature tier, not generic off-the-shelf jackets:

Up to 90% less heat loss from insulated surfaces
Surface temperature ≤45 °C — touch-safe for workers (EN ISO 13732-1)
6× faster maintenance access than fixed cut-and-weld lagging — unclips and refits in minutes, no destruction
Inspectable — comes off to check for corrosion under insulation, then refits like-new (generic jackets often don't survive removal)
Typical payback under 2 years (some 9–11 months)

See Inzonex process-equipment insulation →Run the savings study

FAQ

Questions

How much does CO2 cost per MWh of electricity?

At €77.4/t: ≈€29/MWh for gas CCGT (0.37 t/MWh) and ≈€74/MWh for coal (0.95 t/MWh) — full price, since power gets no free allocation.

What does carbon add to gas boiler heat?

≈0.2 t CO2 per MWh of fuel → ≈€15/MWh at full price; industrial sites in CBAM sectors phase into it per the free-allocation schedule.

Why does carbon favour gas over coal?

Emission-factor gap: 0.95 vs 0.37 t/MWh = ≈€45/MWh of carbon advantage to gas at €77.4 — the merit-order effect that re-ordered EU dispatch.

What is a saved MWh worth in 2026?

Fuel (≈€40 for gas) plus carbon (€15 at the 2034 payable share) — efficiency projects should be screened at the combined number, not the fuel price alone.

How this page is built: heat-loss figures follow ASTM C680 / ISO 12241 (the method behind our public calculators); facility emissions from Climate TRACE & EU ETS verified data across 30,000+ industrial sites; the 2026–2034 schedule is Regulation (EU) 2023/956, not a forecast. Published by Inzonex — manufacturer of modular removable insulation (UK Patent GB2508992.1). Spotted an error? Tell us — we correct on evidence.