Antinuclear

Australia’s energy assessment includes nuclear power, IGNORES DECOMMISSIONING COSTS

BREE says the cost of building a new nuclear facility 2012 in Australia would be less than A$100/MWh, rising to $126/MWh in 2050. But BREE says it did not factor in decommissioning costs.

Australia sees PV and wind as cheapest sources by 2030 http://www.rechargenews.com/business_area/finance/article319046.ece1 August 12, By 2030, solar PV and onshore wind farms are expected to provide some of the lowest-cost alternatives to coal and gas-fired power stations, with PV likely to be considerably cheaper than all other energy forms by 2050, Australia’s chief energy forecasting body says.

In The Australian Energy Technology Assessment (AETA), the Australia’s energy assessment compares the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) – that is the price at which electricity must be produced from a specific source to break even – of 40 different generation technologies.
It finds the costs of PV have dropped sharply in the past two to three years as a result of a rapid increase in global production of solar modules.
“The results [of the study] indicate that Australia’s energy future is
likely to be very different to the present,” the report says.
“This has profound implications for electricity networks, how energy
is distributed and Australia’s ability to meet its targeted greenhouse
gas emissions reductions.”
Assessing a range of PV technologies, AETA estimates the average cost
of PV – using New South Wales (NSW) as a baseline – will more than
halve to A$116 ($122) per MWh in 2050 from $249/MWh today, with most
of that decline expected in the next 20 years.
By the end of the decade, PV will be competing with onshore wind,
which is predicted to fall to A$99/MWh in 2050 from $116/MWh now and
A$90/MWh in 2030.
In comparison, solar thermal technologies in NSW are set to remain
relatively expensive; falling from A$338 today to $216.
Gas and nuclear still get a good look in, with BREE saying combined
cycle gas (CCG) and nuclear offer the lowest levelised costs of
electricity generation across the majority of the projection period
and are likely to remain competitive with renewable technologies up to
2050.
From A$103/MWh today, CCG in NSW is expected to cost A$146/MWh in 2050.
But BREE’s estimates for the cost of nuclear are surprisingly low.
Although there are no nuclear power plants in Australia today, BREE says the cost of building a new nuclear facility 2012 in Australia would be less than A$100/MWh, rising to $126/MWh in 2050. But BREE says it did not factor in decommissioning costs.
Federal energy minister Martin Ferguson says the study provides
important insights into Australia’s electricity generation mix out to
2050 and predicts that a number of renewable energy technologies could
have the lowest levelised costs within the next 20 years.
The study assumes the carbon price and renewable energy target remain
in place over the period to 2050.
Oliver Wagg, Brisbane
Published: Tuesday, July 31 2012

August 1, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy