Coal power developers risk wasting hundreds of billions of pounds as new renewable sources are now cheaper than new coal plants, a report has said.
The shift is mainly due to cheaper wind and solar power, Carbon Tracker said.
It added that in 10 years it will be cheaper to close down coal plants and build wind and solar plants instead.
But the International Energy Agency says coal will remain the largest global power source for years unless governments radically change policies.
The report's authors say they looked at the economics of 95% of the world's coal-fired power stations.
In most countries, including the UK, it's already cheaper to build renewable energy generation than new coal-burning plants.
At 60% of coal plants in the world, the generating costs are higher than they would be from new renewables, the report said.
But the study goes a step further, forecasting that within 10 years the cheapest option in all countries would be to close down existing coal-fired power stations and build wind and solar power plants instead.
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