Wind power is now less expensive compared to coal and gas in Australia

In Australia, electricity generated by wind is cheaper than the one generated from fossil fuels.

In the country, electricity can be provided by a new wind farm at a cost of A$80 per megawatt hour. A new coal-fired power plant, supplied at A$143 per megawatt hour or at A$116 from a new station powered by natural gas. Generating electricity using fossil fuels is getting more expensive because the government has imposed a tax on carbon emissions, resulting in higher funding costs and increasing natural gas prices. The rate of wind generation has dropped by 10 percent since 2011 on the lower equipment expenses and the cost of solar power has fallen by 29 percent.

Wind power is now less expensive compared to coal and gas in the country. Today, the wind energy has become more competitive, so if Australia plans to get approximately 20 percent of its power from the renewable resources, it is still required to drive investments up because of the current energy demand. Australia also started charging from its major polluters an amount of A$23 a metric ton for the carbon emissions, to decrease the usage of fossil fuels, thus fighting the climate change.

The decreasing costs of renewable energy and rising costs of coal and gas plants, suggest that new energy producing capacity is likely to be renewable. Based on water and wind power, renewable energy contributed to about 9.6 percent of Australia’s electricity production in 2011. According to some new studies, wind may actually have more emissions than natural gas. The unpredictable nature of the wind causes the back-up generators to run at the unproductive levels creating more emissions than the natural gas generator. The tax imposed by the Australian government based on the amount necessary to make wind power competitive, by raising the price to use competing fuels.

The carbon tax impels Australia in to a clean green future. China’s largest wind-turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. quoted that it is reviewing new projects in Australia. Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world’s leading turbine maker, said that it expects to keep more than 50 percent of the Australian market. As per a research, the coal-fired power stations that were built in the 1970s and 1980s can generate power at a lower cost than that is involved in case of wind.

http://santamarta-florez.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/wind-power-is-now-less-expensive.html