Table 3 Possible futures for coal-fired power plants
From: Transformation pathways of phasing out coal-fired power plants in Germany
Category | Impacts/challenges (e.g., for politics) | Option for “coal-fired power plants”? | |
|---|---|---|---|
Reason | |||
Continued existence in the regime | |||
(A) Without great changes | Market share of renewables and gas technologies on electricity production will increase only slowly, CO2 emission have to be stored | No | Only limited support for coal by the public, investors/politics |
(B) New design | No | Limited improvement potential, CCS is out of discussion | |
Continued existence in a niche | |||
(C) Nutshell technology | Agreement on the period selected coal-fired power plant can be used is needed | Yes (for a limited time) | Specification on remaining lifetime (e.g., with regard to socially responsible layoff schemes) |
(D) New meaning | supporting schemes with focus on capacity are necessary | Yes | Use of existing coal-fired power plants as backup capacity |
(E) Disappearance | Public spending on R&D for coal-fired power plant can be cut | Yes (in the long term) | No significant incentives for investments in new coal-fired power plant |