A solution to evaluate global coal fleets for conversion to emissions-free 
sources

TerraPraxis is making available for the first time on Nov. 7 its new EVALUATE 
application, which enables coal plant owners and investors around the world to 
evaluate hundreds of coal plants for fast, low-cost, and repeatable conversion 
to emissions-free power generation sources. The non-profit seeks to accelerate 
solutions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors, which includes the global fleet of 
2,400 coal plants. 

Replacing existing coal boilers with a new generation of advanced fission, 
fusion, and geothermal heat sources would enable coal plants to stop burning 
coal—today the single largest source of global carbon emissions—and continue 
operation emissions-free for decades to come. The application will be free and 
is designed to help every coal plant owner in the world, as well as potential 
investors, conduct an initial analysis of the business case, including 
estimated costs and schedule, for upgrading existing coal plants.

The target total cost for repowering is $2,000/kWe, with a target project 
duration of fewer than 5 years.

Repowering coal plants with emissions-free heat sources would save thousands of 
jobs by repurposing the facilities rather than shutting them down and would 
save millions of dollars of capital cost by reusing the existing infrastructure 
and transmission lines. This has the power to radically accelerate a clean and 
equitable energy transition while providing secure, reliable, and clean energy 
to millions of people worldwide.

"Repurposing existing coal and gas plants with advanced nuclear technologies 
creates new opportunities to leverage existing infrastructure, transmission 
lines, industry knowledge, workforces, capital, and supply chains to support 
decarbonization of the global economy at speed and scale," said Eric Ingersoll, 
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, TerraPraxis

The solution comes following a strategic collaboration with Microsoft, who 
helped develop the application. It is being unveiled for the first time in 
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt at COP27, an annual gathering with world leaders on 
climate action. The solution is built on Microsoft Azure, and takes advantage 
of Azure's compute and AI capabilities to analyze the details of every coal 
plant in the world for suitable SMR configurations to repower. It then 
generates the financial and technical details for each repowering project and 
uses Microsoft Power Platform to make these available for coal plant owners in 
a self-service portal hosted by TerraPraxis.

"The world needs more energy, not less," said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and 
President, Microsoft. "To reach net zero, we must come together and develop new 
sustainable power sources, as well as transform what already exists. 
TerraPraxis' solution to transform coal-fired power plants into carbon-free 
energy sources is a great example of the innovation the world will need to 
create a sustainable future."

"Repurposing existing fossil infrastructure can also help ensure continuity for 
communities reliant on existing power plants for energy, jobs, tax revenue, and 
continued economic development. Leveraging the power of AI and cloud computing 
can further accelerate the cost-effective upgrading of coal and gas plant sites 
with new advanced heat sources," said Kirsty Gogan, Co-Founder and Managing 
Partner, TerraPraxis

The historic Paris Agreement reached at COP21 in December 2015 states that 
emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach Net Zero by 2050 to limit 
global warming to 1.5°C. Progress since has not been rapid enough, with global 
emissions continuing to rise each year, especially for the world's most 
polluting energy source: coal. With just 27 years (9,900 days) to 2050, the 
speed and scale of the clean energy transition require the unprecedented 
deployment of new technologies to meet rising global energy demand—both 
cost-effectively and without emissions.

To meet this need, TerraPraxis is leading a global consortium—including 
regulators, governments, utilities, heat source vendors, operators, designers, 
and assemblers—to resolve the major barriers to rapid deployment of 
emission-free heat sources, leveraging the power of standardized designs, AI, 
cloud computing, and big data. Project stakeholders are pursuing the 
development of an open architecture REPOWER platform, which would enable all 
project parties to work together to transform project design, licensing, 
development, and delivery.

In addition to partnerships with Microsoft, Bryden Wood, MIT, and University at 
Buffalo, TerraPraxis has recently entered a series of strategic collaborations 
with the following world-class industry partners and sustainability leaders.

Schneider Electric and TerraPraxis have entered a strategic partnership that 
will leverage Schneider Electric's leadership in cutting-edge technology and 
global manufacturing to deliver proven technologies to accelerate this energy 
transition and help TerraPraxis pave the way for new, more agile plants that 
can be built faster and lower customer costs.

TerraPraxis is actively engaged with several heat source vendors to develop a 
standardized systems interface that works between a variety of emission-free 
heat sources and coal-fired power plants. A Letter of Intent with Terrestrial 
Energy has already been entered into, with several others to follow to join the 
consortium.

TerraPraxis has been working with a group of utilities, including some of the 
largest in the world, and is now seeking candidates to join their Customer 
Advisory Group. TerraPraxis has entered a strategic partnership with Elementl 
Power, an advanced nuclear development company that identifies, acquires, and 
prepares locations throughout the U.S. for the deployment of advanced nuclear 
technologies. As part of their strategy to accelerate the deployment of clean, 
baseload power, Elementl intends to use the EVALUATE application to diligence 
the acquisition and conversion of coal plants to advanced nuclear. Elementl 
Power is a portfolio company of Breakwater North, a private investment firm 
focused on opportunities in the nuclear and clean energy sectors.

"TerraPraxis' Repowering Coal solution is targeting a Levelized Cost of Energy 
of $35 – $40 per megawatt-hour (not including tax credits). In the United 
States, the new production tax credit of $30 per megawatt-hour, provisioned by 
the Inflation Reduction Act, makes repowering coal-fired plants with advanced 
nuclear technologies a highly profitable investment opportunity," said Eric 
Ingersoll.

Join TerraPraxis for a demo of the application at the Microsoft Pavilion (Green 
Zone) on Nov. 8, 9, and 11.

Additional information:

Visit terrapraxis.org/

The EVALUATE application will be freely available here: terrapraxisrepower.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1937418/TerraPraxis_EVALUATE_app.jpg

SOURCE: TerraPraxis