Something substantial just happened in the world of renewables that shook the energy sector. According to an article in the Guardian, two offshore wind farms have obtained a guaranteed price of £57.50 per MWh – something experts have called a “tipping point” and that “the epoch of renewables as the most cost competitive technology has arrived” (see article). I couldn’t agree more.
These numbers are actually ridiculous (in a good way)! Especially this year, the breakthroughs in renewables are almost too good to be true (in terms of technology, economics, and politics), but they’re real.
As if utility companies would tell you it’s cheaper for them to produce electricity than it actually is (hah!)…
It’s now silly to be against renewables. They make sense no matter how you twist and turn reality and reality regarding renewables has even been much better than optimistic forecasts predicted. £57.50 per MWh is unbelievable – it’s considerably cheaper than nuclear power and depending on how little you care about filtering CO2 even gas and coal!
Less than a year ago I had to produce a big report on the state of gas power plants and reading about these numbers made me feel like it’s already been a decade since I did my research for that paper. For a second I asked myself if I time traveled.
I made a little parameter with a number of different factors on how I see the future of renewables and with this piece of news (but also other news, e.g. China contemplating a ban on fossil fuel powered vehicles yesterday) the bar has been pushed so far to the right that I needed to adapt my parameter (article on this will follow soon, including 1001 reasons why renewables are the MVP!). If one example does not convince you, feel free to read about a number (129 and counting) of those amazing breakthroughs – check this collection out: http://wke.lt/w/s/3rGFB1F2jH
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Generation Utopia 