$14,000 per MWh – the price South Australia Pays for Renewables Madness

wattsupwiththat.com ^ | 07/14/2016 | Eric Worrall

[MaxistheBest]

The South Australian Government been forced to beg fossil fuel operators to bring mothballed plants back online, to contain wild swings in electricity spot price caused by unstable renewable production, prices which last month peaked at $14,000 / MWh – up from more normal prices of $100 / MWh which prevailed before political favouritism towards renewables messed up the market.

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South Australia intervenes in electricity market as prices hit $14,000MWh

Turmoil in South Australia’s heavily wind-reliant electricity market has forced the state government to plead with the owner of a mothballed gas-fired power station to turn it back on.

The emergency measures are needed to ease punishing costs for South Australian industry as National Electricity Market (NEM) prices in the state have frequently surged above $1000 a megawatt hour this month and at one point on Tuesday hit the $14,000MWh maximum price.

Complaints from business about the extreme prices – in normal times they are below $100 – prompted the state government to ask energy company ENGIE to switch its mothballed Pelican Point gas power station back on.

The extraordinary intervention – first foreshadowed in December when the government of premier Jay Weatherill hosted an energy crisis meeting – comes as electricity prices soar to near record levels across the nation.

[castlegreyskull]

Garbage is the source.

[ConjunctionJunction]

Sounds like garbage would be a much better energy source than wind!

[NorthMountain]

Australia has ENORMOUS deposits of coal in NSW. The coal terminal in Newcastle has to be seen ... They should be burning it domestically. Heck, WE should be burning OURS domestically.

[ameribbean expat]

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/nt-chief-minister-calls-for-national-energy-summit/7637554

[B212]

according to my HP-50g, the consumer price is
$14000 per MW——MW is a million watts (10^6)

..14000$/1x10^6= 0.014$ or 14 cents

[Oztrich Boy]

..14000$/1x10^6= 0.014$ or 14 cents

Actually your HP got it wrong, it's 1.4 cents per watthour.

Or as my wetware did it: 1Mwhour is 1000 KwHours, so $14,000/MwHour is $14/KwHour

[B212]

yes you are correct, I guess I need some new batteries....”garbage in garbage out”

[Senator_Blutarski]

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand.

-- Milton Friedman