These results are from, The Heartland Institute USA – Center on Climate and Environmental Policy using Texas USA records. The Australian situation would be extremely similar.
The cost of electricity production has been converted to A$
Note: I am fairly certain these costs do not take into account the much shorter working life of solar, wind and batteries, compared to coal and nuclear. Nor the added costs of permanently lost, economic agricultural production from land permanently polluted by solar and wind projects. Or the cost of solar and wind projects being dismantled, the cost of the toxic waste being disposed of and sites being reinstated to their original condition.
THIS WOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL HUGE COST PER MWh, IF IT WAS TO BE RECOVERED IN THE BIDDED SUPPLY COST PER MWh.
The Levelized Full System Production Costs of Electricity, using the relatively wind-friendly and solar-friendly geography of Texas as a baseline, is as follows, in AUS dollars per megawatt-hour:
Natural Gas fired generator $57MWh. Is most efficient in 2 to 4 hour bursts, but can be run 24/7.
The working life of a gas powered generator is 20 to 30 years, but reduced to 10 years if used 100% 24/7.
Coal fired generator $129MWh Can run 24/7, for months, with downtime only for routine maintenance
The working life of a coal powered generator is 30 to 40 years, can be extended to 60 if required.
Biomass $168MWh (Burning wood chips)
Nuclear $175MWh. Can run 24/7, for months, with downtime only for refueling and routine maintenance.
(The working life of a nuclear powered generator is 40 years and can be extended to 80 years if required.
Wind $417MWh. Conversion of wind energy into electricity, depends on weather conditions, is unpredictable, intermittent, unreliable. With wind droughts and gales it averages (an Wind Industry average of) only 8 hours a day.
(The working life of a wind energy, converter is 20-25 years. However with each turbine having over 8,000 parts, breakdowns may be as early as 10 years. Also, the average Wind turbine attracts 20 lightening strikes in its lifetime, which can cause severe damage and downtime.
Solar $592MWh (More than four times dearer than coal) Conversion of solar energy into electricity, depends on weather conditions. There is an immovable, 16 hour sunshine drought EVERY NIGHT. The other 9 hours are unpredictable, intermittent, unreliable, owing to clouds and rain.
The working life of a solar powered, energy converter is 20-25 years. A lot depends on the quality of materials used, whether the panels are kept clean and the project avoids fires or hailstones, which can cause major damage in a short time.
These are extremely important reasons why our petition: TO STOP THE CLOSURE OF ALL THE AUSTRALIAN COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS AND TO KEEP THEM RUNNING IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE.
This includes Eraring NOW 2029, Yallourn NOW 2032), Bayswater in 2033, with Loyang A in 2045 and all other coal fired power stations.
And no consideration of them being closed be considered until assured supplies of base load electricity 24/7 is available from coal, gas or uranium powered generators. Even if this requires the coal fired generators be compulsory acquired by the relevant Government, in the National interest and to maintain the supply of base load electricity 24/7 that is essential to STOP the Grid from collapsing.
OUR PETITION TO KEEP OUR COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS RUNNING. Is educating everyone of how important coal fired power stations are to keeping the Grid from crashing.
https://www.change.org/p/blackouts-will-be-devastating-they-must-be-avoided-at-all-costs
YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR PETITION WITH DONATIONS WILL BE REPAID WITH BASELOAD ELECTRICITY FOR THE NEXT CRITICAL FIFTEEN TO TWENTY YEARS. Be it $10, $20, $50 or $100 please make a donation and keep our petition in the public eye. AND KEEP THE BLACKOUTS AT BAY. The more signatures we get the more wins will keep coming and the coal fired power stations will be kept running. Promote the petition on Change.org and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp or Email.
KEEP INFORMED BY DAILY MONITORING THE AEMO DATA DASHBOARD. And alert your friends to watch the AEMO dashboard, the more know what's happening the better.
Particularly at 7pm and 7am (Or a time that suits you?) watch (and record) the mix of coal, gas hydro, batteries, solar and wind generation and the prices per MWh for each State on the AEMO dashboard.
Example: Eastern States 8th February 2026 7.05pm AESDST. Batteries 5%, Biomass 0%, Black Coal 46% Brown Coal 15%, Gas 8%, Hydro 10% Diesel 0% Solar 5%, Wind 11%. 7.05pm a time when solar has almost gone for its daily 16 hours (lack of fuel), zero production period. Unreliable wind is all over the place averaging 11%, but ranging from a pathetic 2% in Tas, up to 66% in SA. With the strong possibility of wind droughts, dropping wind’s contribution to an overall 5 or 6%.
To underline the importance of our coal fired generators 8/2/26 7.05pm AESDST. In NSW coal is producing 81% Solar 6%, Wind 4%, Qld coal 64%, solar 6% wind 5% Vic Brown coal 52%, solar 3%, wind 17%. SA batteries 0%, gas 28%, solar 6%, wind 66% and Tas hydro 98%, wind 2%.
WITHOUT COAL AUSTRALIA WOULD BE BLACKED OUT.
STOP PRESS: WHAT CAN HAPPEN. South Australia 4th June 2024 9.05pm EST. Batteries 0%, Gas 97%, Diesel 3% Solar 0%, Wind 0%.
SA RENEWABLES CAPITAL OF AUSTRALIA WITH BATTERIES, SOLAR AND WIND PRODUCING NO ELECTRICITY, ZERO, NOTHING
We are up to 4,561 signatures, let’s increase it by many more, everyone’s future depends on it. Continue to spread the word, to all family, friends, anyone you meet, particularly discuss it with shop and business owners. Ask the question, “How do you plan to cope when the blackouts come? The possibility is too awful to contemplate.
WE MUST KEEP THOSE COAL FIRED GENERATORS GOING, TO KEEP OUR SOCIETY FROM HAVING BLACKOUTS, POWER RATIONING AND EXHORBITENT ENERGY PRICES.