Power plants play a key role in net-zero transitions. Power plants can face several risks during their life cycle, making risk understanding vital for effective infrastructure planning. Risks impact the entire plant life-cycle stages (i.e. construction, operation, and decommissioning). Also, different types of power plants (e.g. natural gas, hydropower, onshore wind, and nuclear) face different risks, and for common risks, they see different impacts and probabilities. The existing literature already discusses power plant risks in economic and financial terms, yet the impact of risks is not just in economic terms. Despite its empirical importance, comprehensive risk identification and impact classification in terms of greenhouse gas emissions are underdeveloped. This study aims to propose a taxonomy of risks for power plants over their life cycle. We conducted a literature review encompassing both scientific and grey literature to identify and interpret the current knowledge on power plant risks in terms of CO2 emissions. On the basis of such literature and real-world cases and events within industrial power plants in the Italian context, we developed a taxonomy of power plant risks. This comprehensive risk taxonomy details the nature of each risk, its level of impact (severity), and the likelihood of its occurrence. This taxonomy is relevant to different stakeholders and will provide a valuable framework for identifying, understanding, and mitigating risks, thereby enabling a better power plant provision towards achieving net-zero objectives.