CSIR Report in South Africa: Renewables prove way cheaper than fossil fuels Renewable energy sources are way cheaper than fossil fuels like coal and nuclear. This is according to a recent presentation by the head of CSIR's Energy Centre, Dr Tobias Bischof-Niemz, and Ruan Fourie, energy economist at CSIR's Energy Centre. Power utility Eskom supports getting power from independently-run coal projects rather than renewable sources as the state-owned company expects current generation will be insufficient to meet demand by 2022. In a study about the cost of new power generators in SA, Bischof-Niemz and Fourie argue that "we now know from transparent, tariff-based procurement processes what the cost of new solar PV, wind and new coal baseload is. The result – new PV and wind is 40% cheaper than new baseload coal." The study provides a comparative analysis for new power in SA based on recent coal IPP bid price announcements by the minister of energy on 10 October, and other data. They say the photovoltaic (PV) wind and coal IPP tariffs are fully comparable, because they are all based on long-term take-or-pay contracts with the same off-taker (Eskom), and (after adjustment) the same CPI-escalation. See http://ift.tt/2eSozPq
Comments