Hwange power station

Matabeleland North

1994

1590

MW

8.4

MT/y

Hwange power station

Profitable?

No

Profitable?

Yes

Annual CO2 emissions saved

8.4

MT / year

Total W-S-B investment need

3.935

Bn. $

Investment breakdown

Investment Sum

This power plant can be profitably converted to S-W-B with a $3.935 Bn total investment.

This power plant can be converted to S-W-B with a $3.935 Bn total investment.

Solar

3,354

M. $

Wind

185

M. $

Battery

397,083

M. $

Production costs

5.2

ct/kWh

Production cost of coal (Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2022; adjusted)

2.79

ct/kWh

Production cost of renewable energy

Technical breakdown

Renewables installed capacity

Solar

5159

MW

Wind

160

MW

Battery

348

MWh

Renewable energy production

Share of Solar-Wind to match current coal production

96.3

%

3.7

%

Solar

Wind

Renewables area

Total area required for Wind-Solar mix*: 42.41 km²

*On sites with a high wind fraction, wind need = total need. Solar panels are placed within the area occupied by wind infrastructure.

41.27

km²

5.70

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:

www.globalwindatlas.info | www.globalsolaratlas.info

Solar efficiency rate

1826

kwh/kwp

Mean wind speed

6

m/s

Impact

90%

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

Location view

Get insights for a country or region

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Cannot find a country? This means it was not analyzed as part of the SwitchCoal study.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Cannot find a region? This means it was not analyzed as part of the SwitchCoal study.