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Identifying coal plants for early retirement in India: A multidimensional analysis of technical, economic, and environmental factors

Author

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  • Maamoun, Nada
  • Chitkara, Puneet
  • Yang, Joonseok
  • Shrimali, Gireesh
  • Busby, Joshua
  • Shidore, Sarang
  • Jin, Yana
  • Urpelainen, Johannes

Abstract

Coal-fired energy generation is the backbone of India’s power sector and considered a driver of its economic development. However, it is associated with detrimental environmental and health impacts in India and its fleet is currently struggling with overcapacity and inefficiency problems. One solution to address these challenges is the early retirement of some of India’s coal-fired power plants. In this paper, we introduce multidimensional indices that identify plants for retirement based on comprehensive criteria that include technical and economic characteristics of plants as well as their environmental impacts. We implement an ensemble approach, where we formulate 8008 indices based on all possible combination of seven relevant parameters and rank plants accordingly. This approach facilitates a comprehensive analysis of the plants’ performance on different parameters and provides a new outlook on plant retirements that differs from the common approach of retiring plants based solely on technical characteristics such as age, capacity, and heat rate. Our results show that top plants recommended for early retirement are typically 7 years older, 13% more expensive and have around 40% higher population exposure to emissions compared to an average plant in India. We estimate the potential costs saved from the retirement of the worst-performing 50 GW of generating capacity to be $21 billion resulting from shifting ownership towards a cheaper cost of capital and replacing coal by more competitive sources such as solar power.

Suggested Citation

  • Maamoun, Nada & Chitkara, Puneet & Yang, Joonseok & Shrimali, Gireesh & Busby, Joshua & Shidore, Sarang & Jin, Yana & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2022. "Identifying coal plants for early retirement in India: A multidimensional analysis of technical, economic, and environmental factors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:312:y:2022:i:c:s030626192200112x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118644
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    1. Dan Tong & Qiang Zhang & Steven J. Davis & Fei Liu & Bo Zheng & Guannan Geng & Tao Xue & Meng Li & Chaopeng Hong & Zifeng Lu & David G. Streets & Dabo Guan & Kebin He, 2018. "Targeted emission reductions from global super-polluting power plant units," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(1), pages 59-68, January.
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    1. Choi, Minsung & Hwang, Taegam & Park, Yeseul & Li, Xinzhuo & Kim, Junsung & Kim, Kibeom & Sung, Yonmo & Choi, Gyungmin, 2023. "Numerical evaluation of the effect of swirl configuration and fuel-rich environment on combustion and emission characteristics in a coal-fired boiler," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Coal energy; Retirement Pathways; Air pollution; Climate Change; Cost Savings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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