You need to differentiate between current (mainly coal fired) power generation and new investment in power generation.
No one, I think, is arguing to close all coal fired generators.
The dilemma capital investors have is they have no clear government policy direction for them to make long term investment decisions. Hence their reluctance to build any new stations, which is our biggest problem.
Refurbishment of old coal fired power stations is very expensive and not cost effective. After spending $300million on 50 year old Muja here in WA they gave up, and decided to close it.
When people compare electricity generation in $ per Mwh they quote 30 - 50 year old coal fired power stations against new build wind and solar.
Coal is cheaper in this comparison ($40 Mwh) compared to wind($60-70 Mwh)
But with 8 old coal fired power stations closed between 2012 and 2016, and more pending, it is putting more pressure on old infrastructure.
If you start to compare new build power stations, coal ($75 Mwh) starts to lose it cost advantage.
https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-is-coal-still-cheaper-than-renewables-as-an-energy-source-81263
Solar now costs 50 USD Mwh to produce, so is cost comparative to new build coal, but not inclusive of storage costs for non generation periods.
Its hard to get real costs for Australia due to feed in tariffs, rebates and renewable target offsets.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/solar-power-cost-decrease-2018-5?r=US&IR=T
Like all markets, scale of economy are reducing the costs of renewables as they develop.
Port Augusta's solar thermal power station is contracted to have a maximum cost of $78 Mwh.
Its easy to ridicule the SA government, saying they will have the highest energy prices in Australia, but new power stations must be built, and it has cost parity with new build coal fired power stations. They are locking in energy security which is what all of Australia needs to do.
Unfortunately Australia as a nation is getting sucked into playing the party politic based arguments, which are all short term (election) focused.
What we need is immediate investment in new build power generation, that have competitive costs. New builds can take anywhere up to 5 - 8 years to complete, but we dont have much longer before we have a critical energy vulnerability.
Within a decade, around half of Australia's coal fired power stations will be over 40years old, with some current operating stations approaching 60 years, all using obsolete technology.
75% of coal fired power stations are operating beyond their original design life.
Not worried? You should be!
Cheers Glen
