32. Coal versus wind. And the winner is ...

A recent article in The Age has argued that the costs and risks associated with building new coal power plants are now more than new wind turbines, and that Australia is unlikely to build new baseload power stations burning coal because of falling prices for renewable energy and the rising cost of finance for emission-intensive fuels, based on research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Even without a carbon price, wind energy is now 14 percent cheaper than a new baseload coal-fired power station and 18 percent cheaper than a new gas one. The gap widens further when the carbon tax is added. Wind farms can now generate electricity at $80 per megawatt-hour, compared with $143 for a new coal power station and $116 for a new baseload gas power station. Now, these numbers can be debated but the trend is pretty clear. The costs and risks with coal power are rising in contrast with renewable energy. And the banks know it too. So financing will become easier for renewable energy and more difficult for coal and fossil fuels. Of course, there remain many barriers for new renewable energy projects, but the future looks bright!