Video: Wind, solar cheaper than coal and gas, so let’s get on with it

New wind and solar energy generation is already cheaper – on average – than the cost of existing coal or gas power on Australia’s National Electricity Market.

We’ve reported it, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance foreshadowed it at the recent Australian Solar Council Solar and Energy Storage conference in Melbourne (did we mention battery storage..?).

And this week, the CEO of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency delivered the news to the federal government’s Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, with the moment captured on video.

After consulting an electricity price app on his phone, ARENA chief Ivor Frischknecht told the Senate Committee: “I can tell that right now, the electricity prices range from the low $80s(/MWh) up to $112/MWh in the  various NEM states.

“So all of the prices right now, and in fact the average prices over the last year or so, have been above those numbers that I quoted (for new solar and wind),” Frischknecht said, in response to a question from Greens Senator Larissa Waters.

SEN. WATERS: So you’re saying that new wind and new solar is cheaper than existing coal or gas, or new coal or gas. Is that correct?

FRISCHKNECHT: That is correct.

This, or course, refers to the fact that wind energy contracts are being struck at a price of around $55/MWh and solar contracts are thought to be around $70/MWh, and falling fast.

As former Clean Energy Finance Corp chief Oliver Yates writes today, building more renewables is the most sure-fire way of reducing costs to consumers and industry and protecting jobs. He wants the Victoria renewable energy target’s auction to start soon

Senator Waters echoed that centimes. She posted the exchange on her Facebook page, with the note: “So let’s get on with it.”

Comments

3 responses to “Video: Wind, solar cheaper than coal and gas, so let’s get on with it”

  1. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    ….. And regulators, please pave the way
    and Coalition – get out of the way

  2. Just_Chris Avatar
    Just_Chris

    Cheaper than existing coal? Er, no, coal generators are making an absolute killing flogging their aging fleet to death. You can’t build a 30 year old coal fired power station, so they are correct the best way to get the price down is to build more renewables, any new capacity would probably bring down prices as would reducing the price of gas. IMO the generators are taking the p . but what do you expect? Mates rates? If all the new capacity is built by the same small pool of generation companies the price will remain high, we’ll just have wind turbines idle instead of gas turbines.

    1. Mike A Avatar
      Mike A

      Agree completely we need to facilitate new contracts at cheap prices which will likely exist need new players. The population will get nothing out of the current selling solar and wind at even higher margins than they generate on current carbon based energy. If the UAE and India can have tenders at historically low prices why can’t Australia. If energy prices don’t come down we will have been ripped off. Also really we should not just see solar tenders or wind tenders we should see competition between the two.

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