More than 800 coal plants worldwide could be profitably decommissioned

SINGAPORE, June 17 (Reuters) - More than 800 coal-fired power plants in emerging countries could be decommissioned and profitably replaced by cleaner solar energy starting from the end of the decade, research on Monday showed.

Though only a tenth of existing coal plants are scheduled to shut down by 2030, more could close if efforts are made to identify opportunities, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said.

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"The key problem here is a lack of a pipeline of well defined, contracted, bankable coal-to-clean transactions," said Paul Jacobson, lead author of the report.

Around 15.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide are generated every year by 2,000 gigawatts of coal power. The International Energy Agency says emissions need to reach zero by 2040 if temperature rises are to remain within the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius.