Sprng Energy, AMPIN, Juniper, ReNew, Avaada Win NTPC’s 1 GW Hybrid Auction

Biofuels Firm GPS Renewables Raises $50 Million in Debt Financing

Solar Auctions Surge by 229% in Q1 2024, Tender Activity Up 122%

Global Wind Installations Reached 1 TW Milestone in 2023

Funding and M&A Roundup: Nexamp Secures $520 Million

Project Finance Brief: Arevon Secures $352 Million for Posey Solar Project

Indian Oil Issues Empanelment Tender for Solar Power Projects

Southern Railway Seeks Bids for 1.2 MW Rooftop Solar Projects in Chennai

Husk Secures $4 Million from Electrifi to Scale up Mini Grids in Rural India

Doubling Transmission Capacity of Existing Grid Through Reconductoring: Report


					<table id="amazon-polly-audio-table">
						<tr>
						<td id="amazon-polly-audio-tab">
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-label">Listen to this article</div>
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-container">
			<audio class="amazon-ai-player" id="amazon-ai-player" preload="none" controls   controlsList="nodownload" >
				<source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/amazon_polly_53820.mp3?version=1683887451">
			</audio>
		</div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-subscribe-tab"></div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-by-tab"></div>
						</td>
						</tr>
					</table><p>The capacity of coal-fired power plants in the United States could reduce by ~88% from the 2022 levels by 2050, as environmental regulations raise costs and new plants powered by natural gas and renewable energy displace the aging fleet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (<a href="https://www.eia.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EIA</a>).</p>
<p>The drop in total coal-fired capacity includes about 99 GW to 159 GW of retiring coal-fired capacity and a small amount of coal-fired capacity projected to be converted to natural gas-fired ones.</p>
<p>Of the retirements, 61 GW come from coal-fired plants that owners and operators have already announced plans to retire. Various factors, such as an aging coal fleet, environmental regulations, and competition from natural gas-fired, solar, and wind projects, have contributed to the declining economics of coal-fired capacity.</p>
<p>For its estimations, the EIA considered three scenarios based on the regulations and the cost of renewable technologies.</p>
<p><strong>Current Scenario</strong></p>
<p>EIA noted that under the laws and regulations as of November 2022, the coal-fired capacity would fall by 64% to 73 GW by 2050.</p>
<p>In this case, the combined share from solar and wind will grow to 55% of total generation by 2050, with smaller percentages of 5% from coal, 22% from natural gas, and 11% from nuclear.</p>
<p><strong>High Zero-Carbon Technology Cost Scenario</strong></p>
<p>IEA states that when zero-carbon technology costs more than IEA’s reference case, coal-fired capacity will drop 52% to 97 GW by 2050. Technology costs for zero-carbon resources such as renewables, nuclear, and battery storage will stay flat at 2022 levels through 2050. This assumption results in less retirement of coal-fired generating capacity.</p>
<p>In this case, coal would produce 8% of U.S. electricity generation in 2050, with a combined 40% from solar and wind, 31% from natural gas, and 13% from nuclear.</p>
<p><strong>Low zero-carbon technology cost</strong></p>
<p>If zero-carbon technology costs less than the current scenario, the coal-fired capacity will fall 88% to 23 GW by 2050. Here IEA assumes the cost of zero-carbon technologies to decline by about 40% by 2050 compared to the reference case.</p>
<p>In this case, solar and wind will generate 69% of electricity in 2050 compared with only 1% from coal, 11% from natural gas, and 12% from nuclear.</p>
<p>All cases reflect laws and regulations adopted through mid-November, including the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/inflation-reduction-act-faster-transition-clean-energy-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provides</a> tax credits for zero-emission technologies that further reduce the cost of resources such as solar and wind.</p>
<p>The coal-fired generation in all three cases comes from the newer, more efficient coal-fired power plants that will remain online because they can provide lower-cost, dispatchable power to the grid.</p>
<p>Last October, the International Energy Agency forecasted that global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion would <a href="https://mercomindia.com/co2-emissions-from-fossil-drop-due-to-of-renewables-iea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grow</a> by just under 1% this year as the strong expansion of renewables and electric vehicles prevents a sharper rise.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Arjun Joshi</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Arjun-Joshi-1.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Arjun Joshi,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Arjun Joshi.</a></p>
</div>
<div class="authorboxn">
<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Arjun-Joshi-1.png" width="86" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Arjun Joshi</strong> </a>is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Before joining Mercom, he worked as a technical writer for enterprise resource software companies based in India and abroad. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Psychology, and Optional English from Garden City University, Bangalore. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Arjun Joshi.</a></p>
<p style="height: 17px">
</div>
</div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

US Coal Plants Capacity Could Fall by 88% by 2050 as Renewables Rise

<p>Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jindalsteelpower.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Jindal Steel &amp; Power Ltd</strong></a><strong> will sell a 96.42% stake in electricity-generation subsidiary Jindal Power to Worldone for ₹30.15 billion (~$403.30 million).</strong> The deal includes 3,400 MW coal-fired power plants in Chhattisgarh and other non-core assets owned by Jindal Power. The divestment is subject to receipt of requisite approvals, including approval from shareholders of the company. This divestment is in line with the firm&#8217;s environmental, social, and corporate governance objectives to be among the top 10 lowest Co2 emitting steel companies globally. The divestment will significantly reduce its carbon footprint by almost half.</p>
<p><strong>A Solar Dryer and Pyrolysis pilot project at Chennai is slated to </strong><a href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714426" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>offer</strong></a><strong> an innovative approach for smart cities to transform urban organic waste into biochar and energy.</strong> The pilot is part of <strong>the Indo-German project &#8216;Pyrasol&#8217;</strong>. It was awarded to<strong> CSIR-CLRI </strong>by the<strong> Indo-German Science &amp; Technology Centre</strong>. The project aims to lead to technology development for the joint processing of fibrous organic waste and sewage sludge of Indian smart cities into hygienic and highly valuable biochar associated with energy recovery, carbon sequestration, and environmental improvement.</p>
<p><strong>Siemens Energy and Messer Group have entered into a cooperation </strong><a href="https://press.siemens-energy.com/global/en/pressrelease/siemens-energy-and-messer-group-cooperate-hydrogen-electrolysis-integrated-hub-concept" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>agreement</strong></a><strong> to work on green hydrogen projects in the 5 to 50 MW range for industrial and mobility applications.</strong> Under the agreement, Messer Ibérica has submitted three clean hydrogen projects in the chemical complex of Tarragona to the Spanish government. The projects will have a total electrolyzer capacity of 70 MW.</p>
<p><strong>California-headquartered Bloom Energy has </strong><a href="https://www.bloomenergy.com/newsroom/press-releases/bloom-energy-successfully-deploys-its-first-fuel-cells-powered-solely" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>deployed</strong></a><strong> its first 100 kW fuel cells powered solely by hydrogen.</strong> Installed in Ulsan, South Korea, the project will generate zero-carbon onsite electricity. The solid-oxide fuel cells use hydrogen byproducts generated by SK Advanced to create power without CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. Bloom Energy will supply, operate and maintain the cells.</p>
<p><strong>The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has </strong><a href="https://www.ebrd.com/news/2021/ebrd-invests-in-mytilineos-green-eurobond-issuance.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>backed</strong></a><strong> €500 million (~$603.87 million) inaugural green Eurobond issuance of Greek company Mytilineos. BRD&#8217;s €60 million (~$72.46 million) participation will help the company implement its sustainability strategy. </strong>The Mytilineos green Eurobond is aligned with the International Capital Market Association&#8217;s (ICMA) Green Bond Principles, which advocate transparency and disclosure and foster integrity in developing the green bond market.</p>
<p><strong>bp, Iberdrola and Enagas have reached an </strong><a href="https://www.iberdrola.com/press-room/news/detail/iberdrola-enagas-plan-develop-largest-green-hydrogen-project-region-valencia" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>agreement</strong></a><strong> to study the feasibility of building at bp&#8217;s plant in Castellón, the first phase of the largest green hydrogen production facility in Valencia.</strong> The project would be located in the bp refinery in Castellón, where a 20 MW electrolyzer will be built. It will be powered by renewable energy produced, among other sources, by a 40 MW photovoltaic plant.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/srinwanti/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Srinwanti Das</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Srinwanti-300pxl.jpg" alt="" width="106" height="115" />Srinwanti is a copy editor at Mercom India, where she writes and edits news stories across the clean energy spectrum. Prior to Mercom, she has worked in book publishing at Macmillan Publishing House and Integra and honed her editorial and writing skills in both online and print media such as Reuters, Times Group Books, The Times of India, and Pune Mirror, covering local to international stories. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/srinwanti/">More articles from Srinwanti Das.</a></p>
</div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

Daily News Wrap-Up: Jindal Steel Sells its Stake in Coal Power to Reduce Carbon Footprint

zero-carbon

Get the most relevant India solar and clean energy news.

RECENT POSTS