Electricity supplied from a new wind farm is cheaper than that from a new gas or coal-fired power plant in Australia, reports a new analysis published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
According to the study, wind-generated electricity costs AU$80 ($83) per megawatt hour compared with compared to AU$143/MWh ($148) from a new coal plant or AU$116/MWh ($120) from a new baseload gas plant.
The rates including the cost of emissions under Australia’s carbon pricing system, however “even without a carbon price… wind energy is 14% cheaper than new coal and 18% cheaper than new gas,” reports Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
“The perception that fossil fuels are cheap and renewables are expensive is now out of dateâ€, said Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “The fact that wind power is now cheaper than coal and gas in a country with some of the world’s best fossil fuel resources shows that clean energy is a game changer which promises to turn the economics of power systems on its head.â€
The research also looked at electricity generated from solar. It concludes that large-scale solar PV will be cheaper than new coal and gas plants by 2020. By 2030, solar thermal and biomass could underprice coal and gas.
source : http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0208-wind-power-australia.html