The rise of
renewable energy has made electricity generated by fossil fuels much more
expensive
A
wind turbine stands at Whitelee Wind Farm, the biggest in the UK Jeff J
Mitchell/Getty Images
Electricity
produced by wind power is now the cheapest in the UK, according to
analysis from energy experts.
According
to a new study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), wind power is now the
cheapest electricity in both the UK and Germany, a first for any G7
economy.
According
to Bloomberg, this is because the rise of renewables, as well
as technolgical advances in efficiency and power storage, is making fossil
fuel-generated energy more expensive.
This
creates a cycle that pushes up the cost of coal and gas power, leading to more
renewable energy being generated.
Wind
turbines line the hillside in Stirling, Scotland
As
they explain, the cost of electricity generated by wind, solar, or any other
renewable power source, is essentially free. There are costs related to staff
and maintenance, but the actual generation of the electricity comes from free
natural forces.
However,
with fossil fuels, energy companies also need to pay for the coal or gas that
will be burned to keep power plants going.
Faced
with a choice of a cheap or expensive method of generating power, companies
will go for the cheaper one - however, it's previously been harder to make this
choice due to the scarcity of renewable power generators.
However,
as more and more renewable energy generators are produced, the less coal and
gas needs to be used, with some of their share of electricity generation being
taken away.
The
less fossil fuels are used, the more money it takes to generate electricity
with them in power plants, owing to the increased costs generated when these
plants are sitting idle.
And
as these costs rise, the more renewables will be used - it's a cycle that
results in fossil fuels becoming more expensive and less used, and renewable
power becoming cheaper and more prevalent.
As power
plants become outdated and begin to be replaced, those funding them will see
that the lifetime costs of these plants will only rise as renewables become
more popular and less expensive - potentially causing them to think twice about
putting their money in fossil fuel energy.
The
cycle takes some time to mount, but according to the analysis, wind power has
crossed the threshold - making it cheaper than fossil fuels in the UK and
Germany, something that is bound to happen in other developed countries soon.
Currently,
around 10 per cent of the UK's electricity is generated by wind. But if the
cycle continues and using wind power begins to make more financial sense, this
share could increase dramatically.
Comments
Post a Comment