Comments on: $571-Million Solar Power Plant Planned for Spain

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:25:00 +0000

we might relabel them the Energy Disinformation Administration

By: Dimitar Mirchev

Dimitar Mirchev — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:07:00 +0000

I just assumed the numbers in the table are right. But even if they are 50%(!) off it is still a very competitive cost.

Also I dont believe the Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2011. Historically EIA have been underestimating renewables by factors of 10 to 100. Especially when they talk about growth, projections, etc.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Sat, 19 May 2012 02:14:00 +0000

When I put $1430/MW, 6% financing, 20 years, 5.5 solar hours (23% capacity) into a LCOE estimator I get %0.6/kWh.

I put O&M at zero, not knowing what those costs might, but they should be low.

5.5 solar hours for the CA/AZ/NM desert. Drop it down to 5 solar hours to include the rest of the Southwest and the price rises to $0.07/kWh. Use 4.5 hours which brings the Midwest and Southeast into the mix and that area shows $0.08/kWh.

Six to eight cents for new peak hour generation is an impressive number.

By: Ronald Brak

Ronald Brak — Sat, 19 May 2012 01:56:00 +0000

Very roughly, with a cost of $1.43 per watt I get a figure of about eight cents a kilowatt-hour for Australia. (We have higher costs of capital here.) This is getting close to our daytime wholesale electricity prices. While I still think point of use solar will be the main source of solar electricity in Australia as it is already below parity, I am still pleasantly surprised to see grid connected solar being built so cheap.

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:03:00 +0000

What assumption are you making to read an LCOE of €0.06/kWh off that table?

If it is that low it beats the minimum LCOE of coal from the table “Regional Variation in Levelized Costs of New Generation Resources, 2016″ in this doc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCOE

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:27:00 +0000

New nuclear (with subsidies) would likely be more than twice that cost.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:27:00 +0000

If those numbers are correct then solar is producing electricity at less than $0.08/kWh.

That’s an astounding price!

By: Dimitar Mirchev

Dimitar Mirchev — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:12:00 +0000

$1.43 /Wp is around 1,12 euro/Wp which according to the solar map:
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/cmaps/eu_opt/pvgis_solar_optimum_ES.png
and this very helpful table from German wikipedia:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaik#Stromgestehungskosten
means LCOE of 6 eurocents/kWh.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:08:00 +0000

That’s fantastic news. Like Ronald mentioned, $1.43/Watt is a rather remarkable achievement. Can nuclear get a lower price than that? Apparently not!

Solar > Nuclear.

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:27:00 +0000

Finally. Some good news from Spain.

By: Ronald Brak

Ronald Brak — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:38:00 +0000

Wow! $1.43 a watt! This is pretty astounding news. The fact that solar PV is falling so rapidly in price is great news for the environment.