Part 6/9:
Additionally, Hilton criticizes the assumptions regarding coal plant construction. The CSIRO models envisage "ultra supercritical coal plants" with unprecedented operating conditions—plants that no other country has built and that are considered experimental or unproven at this stage.
Furthermore, the models exclude "brownfield" projects, i.e., upgrading or extending existing coal plant sites, which could significantly reduce costs. They also assume higher fuel prices for coal by cherry-picking the lower end of the range while selecting the highest for the upper end—a tactic that inflates the perceived cost of coal.