Energy report off target on wind

Auswind Media Release,
Wednesday 31 January 2007:

The wind energy industry is warning that the findings of the latest report on Australia's energy future are based on flawed cost estimates. Auswind CEO, Dominique La Fontaine, said wind energy is supplying significant quantities of electricity right now at a reasonable cost, with prices expected to fall by up to 30% in the coming years.

The Energy Supply Association of Australia report concludes that renewable energy technologies will have only a minor part to play in Australia's energy mix by 2030 because they will be unable to compete on price, but the figures quoted for wind energy paint a misleading picture.

"The report puts the price of wind energy above $85 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in 2030, which is simply ridiculous," said Ms La Fontaine. "Right now wind energy often sells at less than $80/MWh, and with the effect of economies of scale and technological advances, that figure could easily be $50/MWh or less by 2030.

"The wind energy industry worldwide has grown at more than 25% each year for the last decade, and those increased volumes can only lead to lower prices in the years to come. "When it comes to outputs, the average wind turbine now produces 180 times the power that its equivalent of 20 years ago did, at half the cost per unit of electricity. It is crazy to believe that wind energy technology will not continue to improve, lowering costs even further," she said.

But even if Australia is largely dependent on coal and nuclear in 2030, as the report predicts, there is no mention of any moves to clean up the stationary energy sector in the short term.

"Both nuclear and so-called ‘clean coal' are at least 15 years away and their prices are uncertain, but wind energy is here and now, creating power with zero fuel costs and zero emissions," said Ms La Fontaine.

Auswind maintains that the market should be left to decide which technologies will best serve the nation's needs, and that can only happen through the use of a market mechanism which creates a level playing field.