Coal Asset Transition Tool

Asset-level data for coal plant refinancing

TransitionZero’s Coal Asset Transition (CAT) Tool is an open data product to help refinance and replace coal plants in an affordable and just way.

The metrics the CAT Tool estimates plant-by-plant include, but are not limited to, the cost to ‘buy-out’ Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), the cost of replacing with clean energy alternatives and the potential savings from early retirement, as well as the social costs of air pollution, water use and climate change.

The CAT Tool can be used for:

  • High-level screening to identify regions to prioritise for phaseout based on various screening metrics

  • Asset-level deep dives into financial metrics, operating costs, and environmental and social externalities

  • Identifying candidates for coal phase-out at the asset level based on criteria most important to the end user

The first iteration of this tool covers all coal plants in Indonesia - a major coal-dependent economy with a net-zero target and high potential for coal transition finance. The CAT tool is published as a web app, methodology document and excel spreadsheet, which we plan to continuously update every six months. We plan to expand CAT to cover other countries.

CAT Tool

Download the CAT dataset or explore the methodology and insights behind CAT and FEO

Each metric included in the CAT tool is tied to a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). The first iteration of CAT provides a plant-by-plant estimate of the following metrics for Indonesia:

  • SDG 3: Good health and well-being

    • Social cost of local air pollution ($/MWh)

    • Social cost of total air pollution ($/MWh)

  • SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

    • Social cost of water stress ($/MWh)

  • SDG 7: Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy

    • Estimated PPA price ($/MWh)

    • Remaining asset life (years)

    • Financial buyout of PPA ($)

    • Potential CO2 savings from early retirement (tCO2)

    • Value of CO2 savings from early retirement ($)

    • Reserve margin of grid (%)

    • Operating cost ($/MWh)

    • Long term profitability ($/MWh)

    • Levelised cost of clean replacement ($/MWh)

    • Levelised cost of clean replacement plus battery storage ($/MWh)

    • Switch price to gas ($/tCO2)

  • SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth

    • Jobs loses from closures (full time equivalent)

    • Jobs added from replacement renewables (full time equivalent)

  • SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

    • Climate externality cost ($/MWh)