Comment on Energy bills to tick lower this winter but will remain high
guriinii@lemmy.world 1 year agoAh yes, shift the focus onto the individual rather than the profiteering polluting energy companies.
I’d rather have cheaper renewable energy, warmth and comfort, than wear hat, gloves, thermals multiple layers, and sit in a sleep bag in my own living room.
bernieecclestoned@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
I didn’t say that though.
I said the price increase changed behaviour. It’s reduced fossil fuel usage. I only care about net results.
Renewables are only economically feasible because the cost of power is paid on the last generator, which is natural gas.
So higher gas prices make renewables a more efficient use of capital
You have a problem with that?
hellothere@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Not if you fall, or get hit by a car…
This is not true, renewables are economically viable at much lower prices than fossil fuels because their unit cost is effectively 0.
It is true the price paid to generate is the market rate, and that is set by the last generator. That does make renewables immensely profitable, which in turn acts as an incentive to build more.
But we are talking about electricity generation here, not heating which is what the other poster was on about, and the vast majority of heating in the UK is non-electric and transitioning to renewable sources is extremely expensive.
That said, using less gas in electric generation would reduce supply shocks in the gas heating network.
bernieecclestoned@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Their unit cost is zero?
Capex is huge, and there will always be opex for repairs and maintenance. The blades and motors etc all have to be replaced regularly.
Solar output is also much less during winter
My new boiler can run a hydrogen mix and all the UK metal pipes are being replaced with plastic inserts so at some point green hydrogen could offset natural gas and that itself could be replaced eventually with syngas from biofuels.
hellothere@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Apologies, I meant to say Next Unit Cost, didn’t spot the missing word. As in the cost to produce one more unit of electricity. This measure ignores capex and is just opex plus associated usage costs like amortised wear and tear, depreciation, etc.
It’s near 0, but not 0, because the input (wind, sun) is free, whereas gas (for CCGT) is not. As such renewables can sell in to the grid, profitably, at lower prices than fossil fuels can.
The big problem, as you show with the example of cloudy winter days, is disconnecting generation from usage, via storage.
Green hydro (or blue hydro, made via electrolysis of sea water) is a useful step for retrofitting, but not something - in my opinion - that should be considered for new builds.