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| India-Pakistan |
| India cancels plans for coal power stations due to cheap solar |
| 2017-05-26 |
| [Dhaka Tribune] India has cancelled plans to build nearly 14 gigawatts of coal-fired power stations, about the same as the total amount in the UK, with the price for solar electricity "free falling" to levels once considered impossible. Let us know how that works out for ya... Analyst Tim Buckley said the shift away from the dirtiest fossil fuel and towards solar in India would have "profound" implications on global energy markets. According to his article on the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’s website, 13.7GW of planned coal power projects have been cancelled so far this month, in a stark indication of the pace of change. In January last year, Finnish company Fortum agreed to generate electricity in Rajasthan with a record low tariff, or guaranteed price, of RS4.34 per kilowatt-hour. Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the IEEFA, said that at the time analysts said this price was so low would never be repeated. But, 16 months later, an auction for a 500-megawatt solar facility resulted in a tariff of just RS2.44, compared to the wholesale price charged by a major coal-power utility of RS3.2 rupees (about 31% higher). "For the first time solar is cheaper than coal in India and the implications this has for transforming global energy markets is profound," Buckley said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Probably some power play between groups of corrupt Indian bureaucrats for the largest share of the bribe money. As to Fortum, a friend in the Petroleum Engineering field, once told me that the reason the Bhopal litigation never went anywhere (by Western lawfare standards) was that the Indian government wants a controlling 51%+ interest in any major projects -- so any future litigation would have the Indian government agreeing to sue itself for damages. Highly unlikely. |
| Posted by: magpie 2017-05-26 18:09 |
| #4 IEFFA description from their website: "The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) conducts research and analyses on financial and economic issues related to energy and the environment. The Institute’s mission is to accelerate the transition to a diverse, sustainable and profitable energy economy." So in other words, they're an NPO getting funding from the greens. A BIG Morton Salt Girl graphic is indeed warranted. Fortum (the solar provider) will make buckets of money up front. When the competition is gone, they'll jack their rates to make more, collect until their costs are covered plus 1,000%, and then walk away (probably complaining about 'government interference' or something). |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2017-05-26 08:42 |
| #3 IEFFA webpage: Accelerating the transition to a diverse, sustainable and profitable energy economy. Yes indeed, could we have the Morton Salt Girl graphic, please? |
| Posted by: magpie 2017-05-26 01:30 |
| #2 I hope it's grid-tied. |
| Posted by: gorb 2017-05-26 01:12 |
| #1 Not mentioned is India will have to build massive amounts of pumped hydro storage, which will cost more than the coal power stations, even if the solar were free. Link |
| Posted by: phil_b 2017-05-26 00:18 |