Coal power remains competitive: IEA study

Coal Insights Bureau

Coal continues to be an economical source of energy although measures adopted to reduce emissions would drive up costs, says a report by International Energy Agency (IEA).

The capital cost of solar PV currently ranges from $600 per kilowatt to $1,000/ kW depending on the region, and up to $1,800/kW including battery storage. By comparison, the cost of a conventional coalfired power plant varies between $600/kW and $2,100/kW depending on the efficiency of the plant and fuel gas treatment as well as the region, IEA says in a report titled Energy Technology Perspectives 2023 adding that equipping plants with Carbon Capture and Utilisation can push the cost up to between $1,800/kW and $6,600/kW.

The cost of a conventional natural gas reformer plant sits at $780 per kW of hydrogen output ($1 470 per kW of hydrogen output if equipped with CCUS), while the capital cost for an installed electrolyser ranges from $1,400 per kilowatt electrical (kWe) to USE 1,770/kWe ($2 150-2,720 per kW of hydrogen output).

“Capital cost is an important cost component for hydrogen production cost, especially in the case of electrolysers. Natural gas prices affect the economics of producing hydrogen from natural gas reforming, with or without CCUS, making the electrolysis a cheaper production route when gas prices are high,” the report says.

Clean energy tech market to touch $650 billion by 2030

Global market for key mass-manufactured clean energy technologies will be worth around $650 billion a year by 2030 – more than three times today’s level – if countries worldwide fully implement their announced energy and climate pledges, says IEA.

Aggregate investment in oil, gas and coal supply amounted to just above $800 billion in 2022, down from over $1 trillion in 2015.

Capital spending by oil and gas companies4 on clean energy technologies has risen in recent years, expected to reach just over 5 percent of their total upstream investment in 2022, up from 0.5 percent in 2015.

“The IEA highlighted almost two years ago that a new global energy economy was emerging rapidly. Today, it has become a central pillar of economic strategy and every country needs to identify how it can benefit from the opportunities and navigate the challenges. We’re talking about new clean energy technology markets worth hundreds of billions of dollars as well as millions of new jobs,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

“The encouraging news is the global project pipeline for clean energy technology manufacturing is large and growing. If everything announced as of today gets built, the investment flowing into manufacturing clean energy technologies would provide two-thirds of what is needed in a pathway to net zero emissions. The current momentum is moving us closer to meeting our international energy and climate goals – and there is almost certainly more to come.”

“At the same time, the world would benefit from more diversified clean technology supply chains,” Dr Birol added.

Challenges to clean technology growth

♦ Geographical concentration: The