The Time Is Now to Reconsider Planned Generation Projects

RMI advocates for the reassessment of planned coal-fired power plants, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries, given the falling costs of renewables and storage. The briefing provides a framework for identifying candidate plants for reconsideration based on their conception date, sunk costs, and evolving grid needs, suggesting that solar paired with battery energy storage (BESS) often offers a more competitive levelized cost of energy (LCOE) than new ultra-supercritical coal plants.

• There is a significant volume of planned coal capacity globally, with over 640 GW of grid-connected coal plants under development, the vast majority (630 GW) of which are located in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).
• A large portion of planned coal projects are prime candidates for reconsideration: 170 GW were initiated over a decade ago, and 370 GW have not yet begun construction, meaning they have limited sunk costs.
• Alternatives such as solar generation paired with four-hour or eight-hour battery energy storage (BESS) are projected to provide significant savings compared to a new ultra-supercritical coal plant planned in 2026 in most scenarios.
• RMI proposes a five-question framework to identify plants for reconsideration, evaluating fuel source, conception date, sunk costs/contractual obligations, original grid role, and how grid needs have evolved.

APA

RMI (2026). The Time Is Now to Reconsider Planned Generation Projects. https://rmi.org/resources/the-time-is-now-to-reconsider-planned-generation-projects/

Chicago

RMI. The Time Is Now to Reconsider Planned Generation Projects. 2026. https://rmi.org/resources/the-time-is-now-to-reconsider-planned-generation-projects/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The Time Is Now to Reconsider Planned Generation Projects |date=4 June 2026 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/the-time-is-now-to-reconsider-planned-generation-projects/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2026time, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Time Is Now to Reconsider Planned Generation Projects}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/the-time-is-now-to-reconsider-planned-generation-projects/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }