Can European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?

This paper develops a framework to assess the ability of electric utilities to sustain the forced impairment of carbon emitting power plants and applies it to the European market. We present a new method to measure asset impairment, for both the company and the industry, based on a database of power...

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Hauptverfasser: Hickey, C, O'Brien, J, Caldecott, B, McInerney, C, O'Gallachoir, B
Format: Journal article
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: Elsevier 2021
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author Hickey, C
O'Brien, J
Caldecott, B
McInerney, C
O'Gallachoir, B
author_facet Hickey, C
O'Brien, J
Caldecott, B
McInerney, C
O'Gallachoir, B
author_sort Hickey, C
collection OXFORD
description This paper develops a framework to assess the ability of electric utilities to sustain the forced impairment of carbon emitting power plants and applies it to the European market. We present a new method to measure asset impairment, for both the company and the industry, based on a database of power plants. We develop a novel framework to analyse a utility's ability to transition by investing in green technology assets through the impact on its credit rating metrics. Finally, we apply our framework to European utilities under scenarios set out by the European Commission to limit global warming by imposing net zero carbon emissions constraints on companies. We conclude that most European utilities have the financial capacity to meet the requirements of net zero carbon emissions under the scenarios with timely action. However, a delay of as little as five years could cause serious financial problems across the sector.
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spelling oxford-uuid:0df950be-d491-413e-8951-b5e39798c6e92022-03-26T09:43:21ZCan European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0df950be-d491-413e-8951-b5e39798c6e9EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2021Hickey, CO'Brien, JCaldecott, BMcInerney, CO'Gallachoir, BThis paper develops a framework to assess the ability of electric utilities to sustain the forced impairment of carbon emitting power plants and applies it to the European market. We present a new method to measure asset impairment, for both the company and the industry, based on a database of power plants. We develop a novel framework to analyse a utility's ability to transition by investing in green technology assets through the impact on its credit rating metrics. Finally, we apply our framework to European utilities under scenarios set out by the European Commission to limit global warming by imposing net zero carbon emissions constraints on companies. We conclude that most European utilities have the financial capacity to meet the requirements of net zero carbon emissions under the scenarios with timely action. However, a delay of as little as five years could cause serious financial problems across the sector.
spellingShingle Hickey, C
O'Brien, J
Caldecott, B
McInerney, C
O'Gallachoir, B
Can European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?
title Can European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?
title_full Can European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?
title_fullStr Can European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?
title_full_unstemmed Can European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?
title_short Can European electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets?
title_sort can european electric utilities manage asset impairments arising from net zero carbon targets
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AT mcinerneyc caneuropeanelectricutilitiesmanageassetimpairmentsarisingfromnetzerocarbontargets
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