Australian solar and geothermal cheaper than coal and nuclear

22 May 2009

The average Australian household could pay up to 30 per cent more per year by 2025 for electricity generated from coal and nuclear power than from concentrating solar and hot dry rock geothermal power, according to clean energy organisation DESERTEC-Australia.

‘Concentrating solar power costs are falling rapidly. Geothermal costs are already low,’ saidRoger Taylor, a researcher for DESERTEC-Australia. ‘Together or alone, solar and geothermal are better, more proven long-term deals for Australian consumers than ‘clean’ coal or ‘next-generation’ nuclear.’

According to DESERTEC, the reason is differing rates of change in prices. The price of hot dry rock and concentrating solar energy is falling rapidly due to innovation. The price of carbon capture and nuclear is not falling as rapidly – and is not expected to in the future.

Over time, the impact of these compounded differentials in rates of change will be dramatic.

‘Australia has abundant solar and geothermal resources that can provide clean, more reliable energy for the economy,’ Taylor said. ‘Concentrating solar power and geothermal exist today, and they have commercial operating records overseas and largely proven costs.
‘By contrast, clean coal and next-generation nuclear offer only fictitious costs, unproven technologies and dangerous disadvantages,’ he added.

Large amounts of concentrating solar power capacity are being built in Spain and California. Meanwhile, geothermal plants are up and running across the world. A host of domestic companies are finding highly prospective geothermal resources in several places around Australia.

DESERTEC-Australia argues that the first step to achieving large-scale solar and geothermal energy production in Australia lies in connecting the Queensland an South Australian electricity grids. This would open up southwestern Queensland and northeastern South Australia to renewable energy development.

‘Serendipitously, such infrastructure would likely pay for itself quickly just in increased efficiencies brought to the existing grid through reducing electricity cost differentials in Queensland and SA. The benefit of encouraging solar and geothermal development would, in essence, be free,’ it said in a statement.

DESERTEC-Australia is the Australian affiliate of the global DESERTEC network, which was founded in 2003 and was originally named TREC, which stands for Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation. The initial vision centered upon developing and transporting clean solar energy from the arid, sunny areas of the Sahara Desert and North Africa to Europe.

As the concept has expanded and spread, it has developed affiliates in the US, India, Australia, Iran, Africa and elsewhere.

DESERTEC-Australia has expanded the traditional DESERTEC vision to include geothermal, wind and wave energy.

Copyright © 2009 newnet

Tags: geothermal, solar

This story was published on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 1:51 pm and is filed under geothermal, knowledge, solar. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Australian solar and geothermal cheaper than coal and nuclear”

1. solar panels says:

   24 May 2009 at 7:43 am

   I am sure solar power will getting popular in australia in the next couple years.

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