What European countries have domestic hard coal sources out of the ones that have turned against nuclear? Germany has a lot of lignite (soft coal), which is not very efficient; it imports the higher-BTU hard coal that it intends to use.
Combined cycle plants have more moving parts. Thermodynamics can’t be evaded. Storage of gas under pressure is still a larger problem than storing coal.
Overall, I'm not at all sure that the GT/ST comes out mechanically more complex than a coal plant. Remember, there is a LOT of cleaning/scrubbing/ash removal etc. that is no longer necessary.
"Thermodynamics can’t be evaded.
Nobody is evading thermodynamics. The simple fact is that the efficiency of a GT/ST natgas plant is a good deal higher than a ST coal plant.
"Storage of gas under pressure is still a larger problem than storing coal."
With natgas pipelined in, you don't NEED as much storage (if any).