Onshore windfarms cheapest form of UK electricity, report shows
Now this is interesting – we have been told for a long time that onshore wind is cheap. Does this formula take the impact of these installations on communities into account from a cost benefit analysis? The article tells us:
New onshore windfarms are now the cheapest way for a power company to produce electricity in Britain, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
Costs have dropped to $85 (£55) per megawatt hour (MWh) compared with the current costs of about $115 for constructing coal or gas-fired plants, its analysis found.
The price of wind, which has fallen from $108 just 12 months ago, compares with nuclear which Bloomberg assesses at $190 – the latter up on a year ago as project delays are factored in to developments.
The positive picture for renewable power in Britain is mirrored across the world with wind and solar technologies fast falling in price while fossil fuel costs continue to move upwards.
“Wind is now the cheapest technology in the UK and this means that old rules of thumb, such as ‘renewables are expensive’ or ‘unreliable’, need to be updated,” said Seb Henbest, head of Europe for BNEF.