Even in Australia, where the pace of clean energy 15-30% lower than older coal technologies;50 this national energy targets,the median project lead bigger, cleaner grids with energy strategies that means they are still considerably higher than wind, time for utility-scale solar PV is 44 months.46 leverage renewable sources like solar and wind, and grid capacity, domestic fuel production backed by storage and firming. Doing so will Operators and customers of coal UsC plants would capacity and fuel import costs. enable sustainable growth, shifting the sector However, the regional and global trends are clear: to decline, and wind and solar generation can offer to record highs above USD$400 per tonne.51 facilities powered by conventional fuels. fallen significantly in recent years, as major develop than conventional fuel alternatives. In expanded production capacity. Utility-scale solar North America, data centre growth forecasts have new generation capacity to build, with an average energy needs. But order bottlenecks are now out to five years or more.39 For example, in early cycle gas.47 Battery prices have declined rapidly in recent years as manufacturing has ramped up. growth in the state. This facility is not slated to come online until late 2029, despite being planned As another zero-emissions energy source, nuclear approaching cost competitiveness with gas, to deliver - and sometimes significantly longer.41 For example, in March 2025 India's Rajasthan demand (see box overleaf). Nuclear deployment generating unit to the grid; this project had By contrast, there are examples of utility-scale capacity to build, though the advent of carbon delivered within just 12 months in Japan,43 and Union. But for data centres seeking rapid access economics of their ongoing operation. Deploying. 22 months in Malaysia.4 In the first six months of to the lowest-cost electricity in the near term, 2025 alone, China installed 210GW of solar - directly impact regionai decarbonisation efforts. than the total installed solar capacity in the US.45