Accelerating the Clean Repowering of Coal Power

We are working on the single largest carbon reduction opportunity on the planet - by repowering coal plants we can eliminate almost one third of global carbon emissions.

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Coal-fired power plants contribute to nearly one third of global greenhouse emissions*.

*Global Energy and CO2 Status Report

Despite their environmental impact, these plants remain an affordable and dependable engine of economic growth*.

*Percentage of coal power electricity generation in Poland, China, South Korea, India and Indonesia. Top 25 Coal Power Countries in 2020

Simply shutting them down now and stranding these investments, decades ahead of their technical lifespans, may turn out to be exceedingly difficult both economically and politically. Since 2019, 524 new coal powered units have been built*.

*Global Coal Plant Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, January 2023 release

The world needs more access to Clean Energy and quickly.

We know that a major solution is to Repower existing coal power plants now.

Our Solution

Why do we need to Repower existing coal power stations?

Most parts of a coal power plant do not emit CO2 - We can repower by replacing the coal boiler with a low-carbon source of high-temperature heat.

This includes alternatives such as nuclear reactors and geothermal and, likely, a thermal energy store.

Essentially keeping the power but getting rid of the polluting coal.

Committed Gigatons of CO2 per year from existing Coal Power Plants

329 Gt CO2 emitted between 2023-2070
129 Gt CO2 emitted between 2023-2070

The Benefits

>70%

Worker retention

Repowering creates jobs during the retrofit process, and allows the retention of existing workforces - as many of the same roles would need to be filled.*

$1.5TN

investment protection

By reusing existing infrastructure, including grid connections, repowering protects trillions of dollars of investment, and avoids the upfront emissions of setting up new sites.*

200GT

emission reduction (Co2 eq)

If retrofit decarbonisation is implemented globally in early 2030s, up to 200 billion tons of otherwise-committed CO2-emissions could be avoided.*

*Study: “Retrofit Decarbonization of Coal Power Plants—A Case Study for Poland”

our network

Founders Pledge provides philanthropic funding to both the Repower Initiative and TerraPraxis. We are pleased to contribute to the collective effort to accelerate the shift towards energy sources.

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get in touch

If you would like more information on our project, please email us or get in touch using our LinkedIn page.