Repowering Coal

TerraPraxis has been listed among eight of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations fighting climate change. Why Johannes Ackva and Luisa Sandkühler of Founders Pledge recommend TerraPraxis: “We believe that TerraPraxis continues to do incredibly important work around shaping a conversation for advanced nuclear to address critical decarbonization challenges, such as the decarbonization of hard-to-decarbonize sectors and the conundrum of how to deal with lots of very new coal plants that are unlikely to be prematurely retired.”

"What I love about what you’re doing is that you’re taking the opportunity to look at these coal plants, and not just close them down, but turn them into something new and better,” Microsoft President and Vice Chair, Brad Smith, said at the launch of our new EVALUATE application, enabling every coal plant owner in the world to assess their coal plant for conversion to clean energy.

This fall Founders Pledge is celebrating the two year anniversary of their Climate Change Fund. Thanks to this fund, TerraPraxis was able to quick start operations in 2020 and continue its growth and expand its work streams throughout these years. This post will give a high-level overview of how the Fund's money has been hard at work (i) accelerating innovation in neglected technologies, (ii) avoiding carbon lock-in in emerging economies, (iii) promoting policy leadership and paradigm shaping, and (iv) catalytically growing organizations during the past two years.

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Small modular reactors (SMRs) could play a key role in plans to replace the heart of coal-fired power plants with a low - or zero-emission heat source.

Spotted: The Paris Agreement states that emissions need to be reduced by 45 per cent by 2030 and reach Net Zero by 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Although many now consider that this target is beyond reach, it is still possible to stall warming at 2 degrees Celsius. One key to reaching this is to eliminate the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible, but current industry and deployment models for advanced heat sources cannot deliver fast enough or at the scale required. Startup TerraPraxis is aiming to change this.

As the dirtiest of the fossil fuels, ending the use of coal-fired power stations is imperative for achieving net zero. TerraPraxis' co-founders and Managing Partners, Kirsty Gogan believe they have a solution to accelerate this process whilst meeting energy needs.

On November 7, 2022, TerraPraxis made available for the first time its new EVALUATE application at COP27. This app 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.

UK-based non-profit TerraPraxis has announced that its new Evaluate application is live and available for coal plant owners and investors to assess coal plants for conversion to emissions-free power generation sources.

To avoid catastrophic climate impacts to people and our planet we must apply our most innovative strategies to the toughest-to-decarbonise parts of the economy, which include aviation, shipping and the single largest emitter of carbon emissions, coal-fired power plants. Coal’s virtues, ironically, make it a historically neglected area of the climate challenge and now the single biggest problem we face – but flip it around and tackling coal-fired generation could present the single biggest decarbonization opportunity on the planet.

In this CNN interview, Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith and host Julia Chatterley shine a light on TerraPraxis #repoweringcoal initiative with Microsoft, Bryden Wood, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University at Buffalo.

During the Climate Week briefing, Microsoft vice chairman and president Brad Smith emphasized Microsoft’s three-pronged agenda: getting its own house in order on carbon emissions and other climate-related concerns, including water use; promoting digital technology that the world needs to build a more sustainable future; and support efforts to promote societal changes – skills, markets and laws – that support the just transition to a clean economy. During the briefing, Microsoft outlined two compelling examples of how Microsoft-enabled digital technologies could accelerate the low-carbon energy transition. The first centered on a collaboration with TerraPraxis to repower coal plants, “If we don’t have a climate strategy that includes these people, we don’t have a climate strategy,” Eric Ingersoll, TerraPraxis Co-Founder and Manager Partner said.

Kirsty Gogan speaking about the Rebirth of US Nuclear Power was among the highlights RTO selected for this brief about the Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF), where more than 6,000 people from 34 countries participated. This forum provided a preview of the national and international climate commitments that will be brought forward at the 27th UN Climate Conference of the Parties (COP27) set for Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November.

During Climate Week, Microsoft gave a briefing with several partners outlining compelling examples of how Microsoft-enabled digital technologies could accelerate the low-carbon energy transition. The first centered on a collaboration with TerraPraxis, focused on helping coal plant operators determine the best ways to retrofit their facilities to run on carbon-free energy. The idea is to create a replicable way for gathering data to help more than 2,400 coal plants be reconfigured to run nuclear power. The grid infrastructure surrounding these facilities can help developers add this carbon-free energy more quickly, by streamlining permitting, and it will leverage the skills and talents of coal plant workers into the future, said Eric Ingersoll, one of the managing partners and founder of TerraPraxis. "If we don’t have a climate strategy that includes these people, we don’t have a climate strategy," he said.

This article highlights the recent signing between Microsoft and TerraPraxis to deliver a digital solution to support the repurposing of over 2,400 coal-fired power plants to run on carbon-free energy. “The global energy transition requires partnerships and technology innovation like this one led by TerraPraxis to repurpose coal-based power plants with carbon-free energy generation,” said Darryl Willis, corporate vice president of Energy & Resources, Microsoft. “We look forward to our role in enabling TerraPraxis to accelerate this transformational solution economically, securely and at scale.”

Non-profit sustainability group TerraPraxis will partner with Microsoft to deliver a digital solution to support the repurposing of over 2,400 coal-fired power plants to run on carbon-free energy. TerraPraxis is looking to combine its expertise in energy with Microsoft to build and deploy a set of tools to automate the design and regulatory approval needed to decarbonise coal facilities with nuclear power. The burning of coal causes more than 40% of global carbon emissions and more than 75% of emissions from electricity generation. As global carbon emissions rebounded in 2021 to their highest level in history, increased use of coal was the main driving factor, reaching an all-time high of 15.3 billion tonnes. According to the International Energy Agency, the world’s consumption of coal is set to rise yet again in 2022.

TerraPraxis is looking to combine its deep expertise in energy with Microsoft to build and deploy a set of tools to automate the design and regulatory approval needed to decarbonize coal facilities with nuclear power, helping transition one of the world’s largest sources of carbon to zero emissions. The relationship began during last year’s Microsoft Global Hackathon, where the team working with TerraPraxis won the Hack for Sustainability challenge sponsored by Microsoft President Brad Smith.

Climate Week started on September 19 in New York, in this article Forbes tells us what to expect and what to pay attention to during the week, including the Sustainability Deals Of The Week where the collaboration between Microsoft and TerraPraxis to repower coal plants is highlighted.

Microsoft and TerraPraxis, a nonprofit headquartered in the U.K., have joined forces to develop a software application that will help existing coal plants determine the best avenue for decarbonization. “The global energy transition requires partnerships and technology innovation like this one led by TerraPraxis to repurpose coal-based power plants with carbon-free energy generation,” Darryl Willis, corporate vice president of Energy & Resources at Microsoft, said in a statement. “We look forward to our role in enabling TerraPraxis to accelerate this transformational solution economically, securely and at scale.”

TerraPraxis, a non-profit organisation focused on actionable solutions for climate and prosperity, has announced a collaboration with Microsoft to deliver a digital solution that will tackle a significant decarbonisation challenge—repurposing more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants worldwide to run on carbon-free energy. "The global energy transition requires partnerships and technology innovation like this one led by TerraPraxis to repurpose coal-based power plants with carbon-free energy generation,” said Darryl Willis, corporate vice president of Energy & Resources, Microsoft. "We look forward to our role in enabling TerraPraxis to accelerate this transformational solution economically, securely and at scale."

TerraPraxis will deploy a set of tools to automate the design and regulatory approval needed to decarbonize coal facilities with nuclear power, helping transition one of the world's largest sources of carbon to zero emissions. To do this, TerraPraxis intends to develop a software application with Microsoft that will analyze the existing coal fleet to determine the best avenue to retrofit the plants, saving coal plant owners time and money while giving their assets and the communities around them a new lease on life for decades to come.

A digital solution will tackle a significant decarbonization challenge—decarbonizing a global fleet of 2,400 coal plants to run on clean energy. TerraPraxis, a non-profit focused on actionable solutions for climate and prosperity, is collaborating with Microsoft to deliver a digital solution to tackle a significant decarbonization challenge—repurposing over 2,400 coal-fired power plants worldwide to run on carbon-free energy. The relationship began during last year's Microsoft Global Hackathon, where the team working with TerraPraxis won the Hack for Sustainability challenge sponsored by Microsoft President Brad Smith.

TerraPraxis and Microsoft enter a strategic collaboration to repower coal-fired power plants with advanced heat sources across the globe. Watch the sizzle video from the signing ceremony here, where Brad Smith, President of Microsoft said: “One of the greatest challenges of the XXI Century is really to cut the cord between power and carbon. And of the most profoundly challenging areas of this is the world’s reliance on coal to generate power. And, TerraPraxis, I think you all are at the absolute center of the world’s innovation to cut the cord while enabling the world to continue to rely on the power plants that have been built and the infrastructure that already exists so that the world doesn't have to go spend the money to recreate what already exists.”

This DOE report find hundreds of retiring coal plant sites could convert to nuclear, adding new jobs, increasing economic benefit, and significantly improving environmental conditions. This coal-to-nuclear transition could add a substantial amount of clean electricity to the grid, helping the U.S. reach its net-zero emissions goals by 2050.

We know that climate change is an energy problem. Now we have 28 years to replace fossil fuels and double our overall energy supply. As you reflect on our first  2021 Annual Review, we hope you will be as energized as we are by our success in mobilizing a broad coalition of public and private sector leaders and building momentum for innovative climate solutions (for coal plant conversion, flexible co-generation, clean hydrogen, and synthetic fuels production). Our programs could accelerate the reduction of global carbon emissions by repurposing trillions of dollars of existing infrastructure to supply clean, affordable, and reliable energy to billions of people.

The solution to the world’s energy problem could be simple — even elegant. So much so that we could look back and wonder why it took us so long to finally realize it. According to the world’s foremost experts on advanced nuclear technology and policy, the choice is up to us.

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The IEA released this new report that will look at how nuclear energy could help address two major crises – energy and climate – facing the world today. The study team acknowledges having benefitted from meetings from TerraPraxis and highlights our repowering coal project: “Various initiatives can facilitate the replacement of coal-fired plants with SMRs, such as that of TerraPraxis which aims to prepare standardised and pre- licensed designs supported by automated project development and design tools.” “In today’s context of the global energy crisis, skyrocketing fossil fuel prices, energy security challenges, and ambitious climate commitments, I believe nuclear power has a unique opportunity to stage a comeback,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

This article by David Dalton describes the Repowering Coal project. TerraPraxis has assembled a consortium of partners including Bryden Wood, Microsoft, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and University at Buffalo, along with a consortium of global utilities, to launch the ‘Repowering Coal’ initiative. The aim is to provide standardised, pre-licensed designs supported by automated project development and design tools to enable customers to be ready to start construction on their SMR projects in the late 2020s. “The result of this repowering will be carbon-free power plants that are cheaper to operate than before, and to ensure continuity for communities reliant on these plants for energy, jobs, and continued economic development,” Eric Ingersoll, co-founder and managing partner of TerraPraxis said. “The challenge is not only to build enough clean electricity generation to power the world, but to do so quickly while building the infrastructure required to decarbonise end-use sectors such as heat, industry, and transport” Kirsty Gogan said at the Nuclear Innovation Conference in Amsterdam.

Bryden Wood has partnered with TerraPraxis for the Repowering Coal Platform, the largest single carbon abatement opportunity on the planet that could greatly accelerate the clean energy transition into being. Amanda Doyle spoke to Adrian La Porta, Technical Director of Process Engineering at design company Bryden Wood about replacing coal-fired boilers with nuclear reactors. In Adrian's words: ''Switching to nuclear reactors would provide a benefit to communities as the power plants remain operational'.

This article discusses the benefits of repowering coal power plants with advanced heat solutions. It is based on our Built Environment Matters podcast featuring TerraPraxis Co-founder Kirsty Gogan in conversation with Bryden Wood's Head of Global Systems, Jaimie Johnston MBE. To support TerraPraxis' repowering coal initiative, Bryden Wood is developing a standardised, scalable building system, configuring the design in such a way as to be able to meet any kind of site or plant requirements, while also accommodating a range of different heat sources. This is being achieved using a highly automated design, and a design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) approach.

This article describes the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit 2022 panel “Beyond Baseload: Nuclear’s Role in the New Energy Landscape,” where Anthropocene’s partners and colleagues shed light on the applications and benefits of nuclear energy beyond baseload power. Moderator Dr. Jenifer Shafer (ARPA-E) was joined by Dr. Rita Baranwal (Westinghouse), Dr. Charles Forsberg (MIT), Dr. Jessica Lovering (Good Energy Collective), and Eric Ingersoll (TerraPraxis), who outlined the TerraPraxis “Repowering Coal” system, a fast, low-cost, and repeatable strategy to repower hundreds of existing coal plants that would otherwise continue to burn coal, and whose closure is likely to encounter fierce political resistance and cause economic harm to communities.

Repowering of the existing global coal plant fleet with small modular reactors (SMRs) represents an immense carbon abatement opportunity suggests non-profit TerraPraxis. The key to rapid implementation is digital innovation in infrastructure, design, engineering, and construction. The TerraPraxis Repowering Coal concept is a fast, low-cost, and repeatable strategy to repower hundreds of existing coal plants that would otherwise continue to burn coal, and whose closure is likely to encounter fierce political resistance and cause economic harm to communities. It will deliver a substantial portion of the clean electricity required to achieve net zero by 2050 by replacing coal-fired boilers at existing power plants with SMRs, which could be ready for deployment as soon as 2028.

How Much Would It Cost to Reduce Global Warming? $131 Trillion Is One Answer. Money is a sticking point in climate-change negotiations around the world. U.S. utilities and startup firms are trying to convince lawmakers, regulators and customers that they can convert aging coal power plants to house small nuclear reactors, a so-far unproven way to deliver electricity. The burgeoning idea would place fleets of small, modular nuclear reactors at or near former coal-fired power plants and is taking hold across the electricity industry. Utility companies see it as a way to repurpose coal plants they are set to retire and are joining with startups developing the reactors, looking to tap into billions of dollars in federal funding.

Kirsty Gogan is an internationally sought-after advisor to governments, industry, academic networks and NGOs. She is regularly invited as an expert speaker on science communication, climate change, competitiveness and innovation. In this interview, she explains the Repowering Coal initiative, TerraPraxis' goals and partners, the algorithmic design tools being created with Bryden Wood, the digital platform being developed, the pros and cons of SMRs and Advanced Modular Reactors, and provides some advice for energy utilities.

The world has more than 2TWe of coal-fired power plants, adding roughly 12 gigatonnes of CO₂ emissions per year, representing almost one-third of global total net emissions of 38.8 gigatonnes a year. But shutting coal plants down worldwide is not a solution when the majority are less than 14 years old, and energy demand is soaring, writes Eric Ingersoll and Kirsty Gogan of TerraPraxis, a non-profit organisation focused on accelerating the energy transition through innovation.

Microsoft has joined the TerraPraxis-led team working on Repowering Coal. Microsoft is helping create Azure tools to enable automated analysis of the US (and ultimately global) coal power generation fleet for retrofit. Microsoft will build the analytics tools with TerraPraxis and help undertake strategic partnerships with #RepoweringCoal consortium stakeholders. At the Microsoft booth during #CERAWeek, TerraPraxis will offer demonstrations of the Azure tools showcasing the opportunity for retrofitting coal power plants. If you're in Houston, please visit us at the Microsoft Agora House, in the George R. Brown Convention Center March 8-9.

SUNY Distinguished Professor Andrew Whittaker is part of a consortium led by TerraPraxis developing a digital platform to repower coal plants using advanced heat sources. The aim is to retrofit retired and operating coal-fired power plants with modular nuclear reactors while retaining the balance of the plant. Other members include the UK-based architectural and engineering consultancy—Bryden Wood, along with MIT, Microsoft, and a group of utilities. Whittaker and the multidisciplinary TerraPraxis team, which includes civil, mechanical and nuclear engineers and designers, are adapting proven seismic isolation and damping technologies to standardize equipment, drive down cost and accelerate construction. Researchers are targeting a five-fold reduction in capital cost.

Bryden Wood has joined TerraPraxis in working on a “Repowering Coal” initiative to help countries meet net-zero emissions targets by replacing coal-fired boilers at existing power plants with Generation IV advanced modular reactors (AMRs)—creating a new design and construction solution that would make such a program possible at scale and speed, in part by deploying a new digital platform. Kirsty Gogan of TerraPraxis said repowering is a way “to accelerate and de-risk global decarbonization,” while also supporting an “affordable clean energy provision on existing sites utilizing existing transmission.” She said it provides “the opportunity to reduce the overall scale of investment required to enable the clean energy transition.”

Engineering and architecture firm Bryden Wood has revealed the digital platform for its ambitious Repowering coal project, which aims to retro-fit coal-fired power plants to accommodate modular nuclear reactors. The strategy, developed in collaboration with non-profit TerraPraxis, will see coal-fired boilers at existing power plants replaced with Generation IV Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRS), which will be ready for deployment by 2027. This initiative is seen as a way to make gains on worldwide decarbonisation of the energy sector.

International design company Bryden Wood is working alongside TerraPraxis to create a new digital platform to decarbonise electricity by 2050. The ‘Repowering Coal’ initiative will deliver a substantial portion of the clean electricity required to achieve net zero by 2050, by replacing coal-fired boilers at existing power plants with Generation IV Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) which will be ready for deployment by 2027.

TerraPraxis is working with Bryden Wood to create a new digital platform for making the replacement of coal-fired boilers at existing power plants with advanced modular nuclear reactors possible at scale and speed. TerraPraxis co-founder Eric Ingersoll said: "This ambitious project will design a process to repower the world's coal fleets via a fast, repeatable system resulting in carbon negative power plants that are cheaper to operate than before and ensure continuity for communities reliant on these plants for energy and jobs."

TerraPraxis has been listed among seven of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations fighting climate change. Why Johannes Ackva and Luisa Sandkühler of Founders Pledge recommend TerraPraxis: “We believe that TerraPraxis continues to do incredibly important work around shaping a conversation for advanced nuclear to address critical decarbonization challenges, such as the decarbonization of hard-to-decarbonize sectors and the conundrum of how to deal with lots of very new coal plants that are unlikely to be prematurely retired.”

Update, November 29, 2022, 9 am: This story was originally published in 2019 and has been updated throughout.

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The flurry of new policies and announcements raises the question: Are we at the dawn of a nuclear renaissance? We’ve heard these claims before. But the mounting scale of the climate and energy conundrum is fueling more money and favorable policies into atomic power. Kirsty Gogan, co-founder of TerraPraxis is quoted: “There have been years of indecisiveness, but the climate is changing around nuclear"... “We need Impossible burgers for energy, a drop-in substitute. We’re not bending the curve on emissions because in the power sector we still need reliability, making the idea that we’re going to phase out coal unforgivably unrealistic right now.”

Thanks to a grant from Founders Pledge, TerraPraxis hosted a high-level, high-impact event in parallel with COP26 in Scotland on November 3, 2021: Derisking the Terawatt Transition at the Climate Action Solution Centre. Read this article on Grant II: Changing how we think and act about the challenge of committed emissions to learn why Founders Pledge decided to make this grant, what they expect from it, and how they will track impact and what it has achieved so far.

SUPPORT OUR WORK
You can contribute to our work by making a donation at every.org/terrapraxis — to our US-based 501(c)3. By donating through this channel, you will receive a receipt for your donation from Every.org which is a US-based 501(c)3. If you are based in Europe or the United Kingdom and interested in donating to TerraPraxis, please contact us. Donations support our work in the US, UK, and Europe.

Bryden Wood has revealed plans to repurpose the world’s coal-fired power stations to house modular nuclear reactors as part of a ‘major initiative’ to decarbonise the energy sector. The practice's Repurposing Coal proposal has been drawn up with TerraPraxis, a non-profit organisation focused on action for climate and energy, which leads the initiative. Unveiled at COP26 this week, the strategy sets out how coal-fired boilers at existing power plants could be replaced with Advanced Heat Sources (Generation IV Advanced Modular Reactors) to deliver a substantial portion of the clean electricity required to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Bryden Wood, which was again recognised in the AJ100 Best Use of Technology category this year, has created, along with TerraPraxis, ‘a platform solution’ making these conversions possible at scale and speed by transforming how projects of this kind are financed, designed, approved and delivered.

Bryden Wood (and TerraPraxis) have announced ambitious plans to repurpose the world’s coal fired power stations to accommodate modular nuclear reactors in a bid to decarbonise the global energy sector. Unveiled at COP26, the plan suggests replacing coal fired boilers at existing power plants with Advanced Heat Sources (Generation IV Advanced Modular Reactors) to deliver a substantial portion of the clean electricity required to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Brydon Wood is an international architecture and engineering firm working with TerraPraxis on this “platform solution” that will make this possible at scale and speed by transforming how projects of this kind are financed, designed, approved and delivered.

TerraPraxis engaged Bryden Wood to work on the ‘Repurposing Coal’ initiative, just launched at COP26. The initiative aims to replace coal-fired boilers at existing power plants with advanced heat sources (generation IV advanced modular reactors) to deliver a substantial portion of the clean electricity required to achieve net zero by 2050. TerraPraxis is working with Bryden Wood, MIT, University at Buffalo, Microsoft, and others to standardise and optimise the following key elements: all processes including procurement, investment and approval; building and engineering systems; design, manufacture, assembly and operation; and interactions between different supply chain organisations to enable greater collaboration.

Mohamed Nasheed, former prime minister of the Maldives who now leads a group of countries called the Climate Vulnerable Forum, singled out the G20’s failure to be more ambitious about phasing out coal. “This is a welcome start,” Mr. Nasheed said in an emailed statement, “But it won’t stop the climate from heating more than 1.5 degrees and devastating large parts of the world, including the Maldives. G20 countries need to look at decommissioning coal plants at home and repowering their coal fleet infrastructure with clean energy.” (Note former Prime Minister Nasheed participated in TerraPraxis' full-day event on Derisking the Terawatt Transition at COP26.)

Mohamed Nasheed, a former president of the Maldives who once held an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight the threat to the Indian Ocean nation, said the coal commitments were not nearly enough. "This is a welcome start. But it won’t stop the climate from heating more than 1.5°C and devastating large parts of the world," he said, "G20 countries need to look at decommissioning coal plants at home and repowering their coal fleet infrastructure with clean energy." (Note former Prime Minister Nasheed participated in TerraPraxis' full-day event on Derisking the Terawatt Transition at COP26.)