Coal Plant Closures & Asset Recovery

Key Lessons Learned from Decommissioning 30+ Coal Power Plants 

The world has agreed to move away from fossil fuels, and utilities are actively decommissioning coal plants across North America and Europe. The construction cost of new coal power plants can be in excess of $3,500/kW, which means the average coal plant can cost upwards of $1 Billion dollars to build.

For utilities that are shutting down coal plants, recovering the value from the sale of assets at these facilities is an important part of the decommissioning process. Typically, Asset Recovery Managers or Project Managers will be tasked with finding buyers for the scrap commodities, plant equipment, and in some cases the land associated with the coal plant. However, this process can sometimes be overwhelming. How can plant owners be sure that they are getting a fair value when reselling equipment and assets? How long should the process take? What are some pitfalls to avoid?

The team at Aucto has been directly involved in the decommissioning of 30+ (and counting) coal power plants. We thought it would be helpful to communicate our key findings on the amount of value plant owners can expect to recover from scrap commodities and usable equipment. We also outline the average time it took to idle, remediate and eventually demolish the coal plant.

If you are involved in shutting down and decommissioning a coal power plant, feel free to get in touch with our team to discuss these findings. 

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