Carbon-neutral power system transition pathways for coal-dominant and renewable Resource-abundant regions: Inner Mongolia as a case study

•The transformation of power in coal-dominated and renewable-rich region is studied.•The study evaluated the transition pathway using the optimisation model.•Three scenarios were formulated to reflect different levels of carbon reduction.•The study compared the energy flow, cost-benefit, and carbon emission in scenarios.•The challenging carbon neutrality scenario has the lowest cost.