Good for them I guess?
100% this.If this is true, how come my electricity rates go up over time as solar plants are put in and coal plants shut down?
Chart shows one thing, my bill another.
Any reduction in costs to the utility providers simply goes to increased shareholder profits versus actual reductions in consumers power bills.100% this.
I like to point out to rabid green people these three things:
then I ask them: how can all three of these be true? the first reaction is almost always the "gears turning" look. then general confusion. universally, there is no good reconciliation of how these can all be true.
- there are constant news headlines about "more wind/solar installed in [previous year] than any other year!"
- there are constant news headlines about how the price of new wind/solar is the lowest it's ever been
- their utility bill has never been higher
I'm confused; are they still building coal plants, or solar, or both?
All depends on what article you open on google. More coal. Decommissioning coal. More solar, and every other variation.
IMO, coal is far more economical than solar panels, so I believe more coal plants are opening.
Still need storage.
Think again
Guess you missed those white square boxesStill need storage.
OK how about, still need a lot of expensive storage that is only good for short term before it needs to be replaced.Guess you missed those white square boxes
It may be cheaper if you are the panel manufacturer ….. and the Govt can go round up a few villages of people in trucks to do the labor …That’s a pretty good start and trimming the prices.I don’t believe it’s cheaper and not sure everyone shares the concern of toxic coal ash.
Using simple memes and gotchas is unhelpful when considering the complexity of energy markets.then I ask them: how can all three of these be true?
“Gas” No mention of modern nuclear plants deploying the latest modular design technology.Using simple memes and gotchas is unhelpful when considering the complexity of energy markets.
I've no idea how the wholesale electricity market works where you are but here it's the generator of last resort which sets the price for any given interval. That's typically gas power generation - if it is required. When renewables are abundant, the price is very cheap, negative even (bulk users are paid to consume).
But when supply is constrained then gas sets the price. The international gas prices over the past year went berko, and so electricity prices here all went up sharply as a result. But they did not go up by nearly as much as they may have had it not been for the availability of renewables in our supply mix.
The faster we remove our reliance on gas generation here the more our prices will fall in line with the cheaper renewables supply and be less prone to international prices shocks.
The big increases in grid energy storage coming on line in the next few years (pumped hydro and battery) will see gas fall away as that supplier of last resort. It will still be there, but it will be called upon less often. It will take a while as we are still transitioning away from our last remaining coal power stations. Another decade and they will be gone.
Even so, there's a limit to the impact of wholesale electricity generation prices on retail tariffs.
Here the wholesale price of electricity is only ~2/5ths of the total cost of electrical energy delivered to consumers. The rest is the costs of transmission and distribution networks, market operational costs, retailer operating costs and margins. Largely these costs are independent of generation source, although there are some transmission network adjustments required to manage a more distributed energy generation system compared with the old paradigm of centralised generation.
But as a ROT, across Australia the states with the highest proportion of renewable energy supply now have lower wholesale electricity prices. This is seen in the price trend for fossil heavy states which has moved from being lowest wholesale price locations to the highest.
View attachment 192309
In order of highest proportion of renewables to lowest (% renewable energy over last 12 months):
Tasmania (93%)
South Australia (71%)
Victoria (42%)
NSW (31%)
QLD (28%)
Of the above, SA is most sensitive to fluctuations in gas prices, which is why they are continuing to deploy storage. The fossil heavy states are transitioning, just more slowly.
I think you have that mixed up.Over 100 new coal plants approved in 2022. Their solar and wind makes up 2% of their power.
We have no nuclear power in Australia so none to mention.“Gas” No mention of modern nuclear plants deploying the latest modular design technology.
I believe your navy does. And you guys ship a lot of uranium to China.We have no nuclear power in Australia so none to mention.
As to the latest modular nuclear designs, financially they have been a disaster in Western nations. There are none in operation so the real costs are unknown, other than they have been unable to reach financial viability despite massive government support.