UBS predicts that 50GW of coal and gas-fired generation will need to be sacrificed in the next four years to ensure that the remaining fossil fuel plants can make money. The centralised generation model is in decline, but will the energy dinosaurs know how to react? There’s a lesson here for Australian utilities.
Analysts from UBS say energy markets are facing a revolution caused by the success of unsubsidised solar. They say solar costs have fallen so far, it was a no-brainer for households to install rooftop solar, turning customers into competitors for utilities. The implications for coal-fired generators could be devastating.
More on why UBS says solar PV is becoming a “no-brainer” for households in some European countries, and why battery storage will be the second major game changer. We look deeper at the numbers, and what this means for utilities – just as more fossil fuel plant closures were foreshadowed in Germany because of the rise in solar.
