Minnesota
1958
598
 MW
2.9
 MT/y

Allen S. King Generating Plant

Profitable?
No
 
Profitable?
Yes
 
Annual CO2 emissions saved
2.9
MT / year
Total W-S-B investment need
1.341
Bn. $

Investment breakdown

This power plant can be profitably converted to S-W-B with a $1.341 Bn total investment.
This power plant can be converted to S-W-B with a $1.341 Bn total investment.

Solar
324
M. $
Wind
949
M. $
Battery
68,544
M. $

Production costs

5.2
ct/kWh
Production cost of coal (Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2022; adjusted)
3.38
ct/kWh
Production cost of renewable energy

Technical breakdown

Renewables installed capacity

Solar
498
MW
Wind
687
MW
Battery
60
MWh

Renewable energy production

Share of Solar-Wind to match current coal production
20.7
%
79.3
%
Solar
Wind

Renewables area

Total area required for Wind-Solar mix*: 24.55 km²
*On sites with a high wind fraction, wind need = total need. Solar panels are placed within the area occupied by wind infrastructure.
3.98
km²
24.55
km²
Area use solar
Area use wind

Environmental conditions

Key environmental conditions around coal plant site (10,000 km2)

These are input values for the SwitchCoal model taken from the following reliable sources:
Solar efficiency rate
1405
kwh/kwp
Mean wind speed
9
m/s

Impact

90%
of the world’s coal power plants can be profitably replaced by  wind-solar-battery plants.