India Ends Plans to Build Coal Power Stations Due to Low Solar Energy Prices

Posted by: AbbieKnight

The recent plummet in solar prices has resulted in India cancelling plans to build almost fourteen gigawatts of coal-fired power station. According to Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies at The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), “For the first time solar energy is cheaper than coal in India and the implications this had for the transforming global energy markets is profound.”
In a recent IEEFA article, Buckley mentions that on May 17, 13.7 GW of planned coal power projects have been cancelled that month. Since the drop in prices, investors from around the world are showing interest in India’s solar sector. Buckley also says, “The caliber of the global financial institutions who are budding into India’s solar power infrastructure tenders is a strong endorsement of India’s leadership in this energy transformation and will have significant ripple effects into other transforming markets, as is already seen in the UAE, South Africa, Australia, Chile, and Mexico.”
According to a study by Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and CoalSwarm, significant coal capacity in several countries was retired last year, while new plants are not being built at the rate planned, or the same rate. The contraction was described as a “freefall,” with new and preconstruction down 62% in 2016.

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