Wisconsin
1976
1112
 MW
5.6
 MT/y

Columbia Energy Center

Profitable?
No
 
Profitable?
Yes
 
Annual CO2 emissions saved
5.6
MT / year
Total W-S-B investment need
2.645
Bn. $

Investment breakdown

This power plant can be profitably converted to S-W-B with a $2.645 Bn total investment.
This power plant can be converted to S-W-B with a $2.645 Bn total investment.

Solar
699
M. $
Wind
1,814
M. $
Battery
132,361
M. $

Production costs

5.2
ct/kWh
Production cost of coal (Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2022; adjusted)
3.43
ct/kWh
Production cost of renewable energy

Technical breakdown

Renewables installed capacity

Solar
1075
MW
Wind
1314
MW
Battery
116
MWh

Renewable energy production

Share of Solar-Wind to match current coal production
23.1
%
76.9
%
Solar
Wind

Renewables area

Total area required for Wind-Solar mix*: 46.94 km²
*On sites with a high wind fraction, wind need = total need. Solar panels are placed within the area occupied by wind infrastructure.
8.60
km²
46.94
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
1402
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. 
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