Replacing the costliest 500 GW of coal with solar photovoltaic and onshore wind would cut power system costs by up to $23-billion a year and reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by around 1.8 gigatons, equivalent to 5% of total global CO2 emissions in 2019, a new report shows. The study also shows that up to 1 200 GW of existing coal capacity could cost more to operate next year than the cost of new utility-scale solar PV.
