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Costs Plunging for Solar Electricity Faster Than Expected

Posted on 22. September 2016 Written by Marcel Weiss

Ramez Naam:

The latest record is an incredibly low bid of 2.42 cents / kwh solar electricity in Abu Dhabi. That is an unsubsidized price.

Let me put that in perspective. The cost of electricity from a new natural gas powerplant in the US is now estimated at 5.6 cents / kwh.  (pdf link) That is _with _historically low natural gas prices in the US, which are far lower than the price of natural gas in the rest of the world.

This new bid in Abu Dhabi is _less than half _the price of electricity from a new natural gas plant.

What’s more, it’s _less than the cost of the fuel _burned in a natural gas plant to make electricity – without even considering the cost of building the plant in the first place.

The solar bid in Abu Dhabi is not just the cheapest solar power contract ever signed – it’s the cheapest contract for electricity ever signed, anywhere on planet earth, using any technology.

Amazing. Puts especially an interesting context on electric cars.

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Analysis and links to articles on the big picture of the tech industry and the networked information economy.

Author: Marcel Weiss is a writer, consultant and fighter for pareto-optima. He is thinking and linking from Berlin, Germany.

contact: marcel@neunetz.com

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