Fig. 1: Value of fossil-fired electricity generators worldwide stranded under lower climate mitigation scenarios.
From: Ownership of power plants stranded by climate mitigation
a–c, Stacked bars show the additional costs to fossil-fuel-fired electricity generators resulting from median regional carbon prices (n = 25 per region) under scenarios that limit the increase in global mean temperature to 1.5 °C, 2.0 °C, 2.2 °C and 2.6 °C. Bars represent median values, with error bars showing the range of stranded assets using minimum and maximum carbon prices within each region. Roughly 75% of the total added costs are related to coal-fired generators (a), more than half of the total are attributable to China (b) and more than a quarter are associated with power plants owned by just ten companies (c). d–f, The stranded-asset amounts under the same carbon pricing scenarios, assuming a 90% pass-through rate, with error bars showing the range of results calculated with pass-through rates of 85% and 95%. Coal power operators stand to lose around US$1.4 trillion over the operational lifespans of their plants (d). Similarly, China is projected to lose around US$1 trillion (e) and just ten companies could collectively lose half a trillion dollars (f) under a 1.5 °C scenario. ROW, rest of world; T, trillion.
