42% of world's coal power stations loss making

A German coal power station with wind and solar generation next to it.

PV is currently cheaper than coal power production in Germany, according to Fraunhofer ISE.

Image: Fotolia/Reinhard Tiburzy

From PV Magazine:

With COP24 set to open its doors on Monday, the Carbon Tracker thinktank has published a report which demolishes one of the arguments the fossil fuel brigade cling to – the economic advantage of burning coal.

According to the report, rising fuel costs and the falling cost of renewable generation mean solar power is not just cheaper than coal, but that a considerable proportion of coal generation capacity is running at a loss.

The thinktank claims its report is the world’s first analysis of the profitability of 6,685 coal plants worldwide. The sample size represents around 95% of a globally operating coal generation capacity of 1,900 GW. The analysis also examines 90% – 220 GW – of the coal-fired power stations under construction.

Their conclusions:

• 42% of global coal [generation] capacity is operating on unprofitable margins

• 35% of the coal capacity currently online is more expensive to run than the cost of new renewable generation capacity. That means PV is not only cheaper on a new-for-new basis, it is also less expensive to build a new pv plant than continuing to fire existing coal-fired power stations, with that metric applying to the most expensive 35% of power stations today. The report’s authors say, as early as 2030, it will be cheaper to build renewable generation capacity than continue to fire 96% of coal generation capacity.

• Carbon Tracker has calculated the potential savings for key markets. It says China could save $389 billion by closing coal plants up to 2030, while the EU could save $89 billion. The potential savings in the U.S. could reach $78 billion, and in Russia, $20 billion.  

• On average, coal generation in the EU is running at a loss of $10/MWh, with that loss set to grow to $32/MWh.

[Read more here]

It's abundantly clear that coal-fired electricity is on its way out.  Only the blind, or idiots, or those in the pay of coal mining companies, refuse to acknowledge this.  What governments and regulators should be doing now is ensuring that the transition is orderly, and -- if we care about our climate -- as rapid as possible.