I came across this video about electricity pricing and how solar and batteries are finally making electricity cheaper.
This is about Australia because Australia is ahead of the curve BUT it will apply everywhere in time. It is only short but well worth watching
People think that because power is generated from the wind or solar it will be cheaper than power generated from conventional power stations…It Isn’t.
It takes over 300 of the largest wind turbines to output the same as a 1 gW station.
Imagine all those resources needed to produce 300 wind turbines.
Then there’s the transportation (mainly from China) and the siting and erecting in remote places (usually the sea around the coast of Britain) the miles and miles of copper cable to connect them to a mainland grid. Wind turbines need lots of maintenance, especially offshore ones.
And then, because they don’t produce power when you need it (mainly in winter when there is less daylight and no use from solar panels) we need massive Lithium battery storage units taking up as much space as a conventional power station.
In the UK these massive battery storage units will only supply a few thousand houses for a couple of hours.
Madness!
Yes you might get your power for free but the costs are in the equipment to convert wind and solar into electricity, when compared to conventional power stations they produce miniscule amounts of power, that’s why we need so many turbines and hectares of solar panels.
With an approximately 25 year lifespan, even less for offshore and solar panels, we already need to replace units that were already installed.
How long do you think coal fired power stations last?
Rooftop solar during the day is making wholesale price of electricity zero, sometimes even negative, hence the need for batteries, the example of mine that you quoted has been fixed it was just a management issue, easily sorted.
If you have a smart meter here you get power between 11am and 2pm for free, obviously the time to wash your clothes run the dishwasher, heat the water etc.
They are trying to flatten the evening peak which means that far less redundant capacity is needed so much less capital expenditure. it is a long term fix.
I don’t have any problem with domestic solar panels or wind turbines to offset a homes energy bills or to make it more energy independent. Or even farmers and factories having a wind turbine and/or solar panels on their land to reduce energy bills.
In fact I even considered solar panels on my roof which is perfectly aligned for maximum exposure Bruce. That would have been more for the energy independence rather than the saving in cost.
However, using solar and turbines with lithium battery storage units to supply the grid is just bad economics and will always keep bills high. The reasons given for using green sustainable energy don’t hold water…When you need lots of lithium battery storage units, where do you think the lithium comes from? It’s mined like coal, and like coal, it’s not sustainable…It will run out eventually. So does that make coal, oil and natural gas sustainable also? Perhaps wind turbines are non polluting, but when you consider 300 wind turbines for one gig of power how much pollution was caused in the mining and production of the materials used in the construction and transportation, and then do it all over again in 25 years or after a hailstorm.
Perhaps 52 years like Drax…
So two for the price of one?
Elegant wind turbines and beautiful countryside. It’s a win/win situation for everyone.
BTW to produce 1GW of electricity 2200 tonnes of coal are burned each day. Think on that.
Australia has enough coal to last at the present rate of production for about 300 years, it exports about 400 Million tonnes a year (not counting the millions of tonnes it burns to produce electricity). Exports are worth about $100billion a year.
Australia also produces 52% of the world’s lithium supply or about 130,000 tonnes each year. It is worth about $10billion
Take your pick which do you prefer? I am sure we are happy to supply either.
Oh, and just in case you didn’t know Australia is also the world’s second largest exporter of LNG.
That’s a real shame. 
It is Rose, but being an ex engineer I marvel at the look and mechanics of a wind turbine.
When I was a courier I used to pass close to one during a regular job, I would stop just below it to eat my sandwiches and listen to the gentle whirring. Quite hypnotic.
The problem is, they need so many of the things, and they should think very carefully where they should be sighted…
Just a little insight into the materials used in the making of a wind turbine.
Not quite as sustainable as we all think… 
In the distance, I can see a long row of wind turbines up on a hill from my terrace (about 60km away) and I quite enjoy gazing at the red blinking lights at night. Other than that, they aren’t really a pretty sight when driving past them, although I understand the fascinating mechanics you mention.
It’s just an engineering thing with me Rose. When my daughter was young I used to take her to all the open days at local power stations and marvel at the massive turbines. I even took her to an open day at a large water treatment plant, fascinating…Mrs Fox and her still take the mick when remembering those good old days…I don’t mind…
