Posted on 02/16/2014 8:41:34 AM PST by rktman
In early 2013, the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) released their new figures for the “levelized cost” of new power plants. I just came across them, so I thought I’d pass them on. These are two years more recent than the same EIA cost estimates I discussed in 2011 here. Levelized cost is the average cost of power from a new generating plant over its entire lifetime of service. The use of levelized cost allows us to compare various energy sources on an even basis. Here are the levelized costs of power by fuel source, for plants with construction started now that would enter service in 2018:
(Excerpt) Read more at wattsupwiththat.com ...
This is very interesting.
However, I wonder if the liberals will consider any such review of power costs?? Or will they push ahead with their mantras of solar, wind, no fossil fuels, no nuclear etc.
Unfortunately liberals are in charge now, so we have to wonder what the liberals will allow to go forward. Obama’s EPA is supposed to push policies which will compel many coal fired power plants to close. How we will make up the gap in power generation being lost is unknown.
I’m surprised that wind, with its maintenance intensive rotating mechanical systems, is cheaper than a photovoltaic array.
The Globo-Marxists WANT higher power costs. They want to reduce our standard of living and increasing powers costs is one of the surest way of doing it. Flooding the nation with Third-worlders and exporting our jobs overseas are two others.
Well, if the liberals don’t care if power costs go up, and actually want those costs to go up, there’s our answer. The liberals will NOT look at any such issues, such as cost per unit of power.
They worship at the altar of sun and wind and all that, regardless of cost. In fact, it sounds like they are happy that these other sources of power are more expensive for all of us.
The main thing that pops out to me is that the rates aren’t “skyrocketing” as they “necessarily” should be doing. (did I spell that right?)
From the article:
“...The power grid is a jealous bitch and there’s not an iota of storage...”
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Some seem to fail to understand this very basic fact.
This is good data for the most part, thanks for posting it. Understanding the energy mix requires acquiring some basic knowledge, which most FReepers are reluctant to do, preferring instead to just repeat talking points or other nonsense. But this is a serious issue, because the only energy policy that makes sense is an “all the above” policy.
We need a mix of dispatchable and non-dispatchable generation sources, which means nuclear and combined-cycle natural gas in addition to those like coal that keep the lights on today.
Where the author loses credibility is where he starts blathering about dusting solar panels and wind turbine maintenance. He simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about and demeans the rest of his argument by delving into nonsensical speculation. He also fails to point out what I have said on just about every wind-related thread, that is, that utility-scale wind generation can operate on a cost-competitive basis without subsidies. The industry trade newspaper even carried a front-page story to the same effect last month. The technology is not all that different from that used to whisk people around the sky at 500 mph yet you don’t hear jet aircraft being described in the same pejorative terms.
But it really matters little what opinionated writes say about it - science and technology will advance at it’s own pace, given a free market in which to operate where the best solutions will succeed.
Read it again, it’s not. He says it’s 30% higher. All generating systems have a baseline O&M cost to perform preventive maintenance and oversee the power conversion electronics that interface all forms of generation to the grid. Utility-scale wind turbines have become more reliable with each generation of technology, thanks to advanced materials, improved designs, and now the incorporation of predictive maintenace and prognostics that will detect potential failures even before they occur.
Think of comparing a 1950s automobile with last years models and you’ll get an appreciation for why modern turbines have only 1/3 the maintenance cost of those installed just 15 years ago.
LOL! Free market would be good. Hard to make energy prices skyrocket with a free market. Not like there isn’t already a monopoly on electricity wherever you live. It ain’t like cell phones. Of course with those there are connection and reliability issues as well.
Thanks! I missed that.
Production Tax Credit.
Keep that Wind Generation Lobby money flowing.
Think of comparing a 1950s automobile with last years models and you’ll get an appreciation for why modern turbines have only 1/3 the maintenance cost of those installed just 15 years ago.
“Think of comparing a 1950s automobile with last years models and you’ll get an appreciation for why modern turbines have only 1/3 the maintenance cost of those installed just 15 years ago.”
But are the ones they installed 15 years ago paid for yet?
“He also fails to point out what I have said on just about every wind-related thread, that is, that utility-scale wind generation can operate on a cost-competitive basis without subsidies.”
It cannot, because the output for a wind field can at any given moment drop to *zero*. Therefore, steam turbines must be kept running 24/7 to prevent blackouts. So they must be indirectly subsidized by having to build and operate an equal capacity of generation to take up the slack at a moment’s notice
They’re a Boone-doggle. And people are starting to catch on.
One thing that I think is sad is that we now have an entire generation that has no idea what actual high-quality voice service is like. The reliability and quality issues we face today would never have passed muster with the old Ma Bell.
LOL! BEechwood 45789. They would be shocked to actually have a “party line”. Not the same kind of “party line” they would have in mind. And “long distance” calls? Almost never heard of when I was a kid. Dang. I must be getting old-er.
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