First of all this statistic is quite astounding. The drop in the cost of both wind power and and solar has been so significant over the last few years that once the preserve of wealthy countries it will soon be cheaper than anything else.
The astounding thing about this statistic though is that this is not only where you are building a grid from scratch, but wind and solar will soon be cheaper even if you have a prebuilt coal power plant. It is thought that this date will occur around about 20:30
That is an astounding statistic. In a country such as Australia where coal is cheap and locally mined, it is still cheaper to build solar and wind farms and to retire the coal power plants as soon as possible than to continue to use what exists until it’s retirement.
There are still significant numbers of markets around the world that subsidize the cost of coal power, leaving an unfair playing field. However the analysis suggests that by 2030 on a fair playing field wind and solar will win out every time.
Governmental decisions are not always logical, and there are powerful interests that will argue against the sensible decision. However when solar and wind power have dropped so low there is little incentive for governments to subsidise coal power given the health concerns that come with burning coal as well as the costs of propping up this industry, and the likely cost that the world will have to bear unless we stop burning coal completely in the near future.
