We often hear the greenies and climate condriacsย proclaiming that solar and wind power have become competitive and even cheaper than conventional energy sources.
This simply ignores all of this (if you can think of other points, please let me know, and I'll add them to my list).
And it's all the more expensive when you add:
1) subsidies and grants,
2) connection and reinforcement costs borne by customers,
3) the outrageous grid priorities, and the few times it actually works (20 to 25% load factor),
4) the never-counted costs of the backup power plants that take over 75 to 80% of the time when solar and wind power aren't operating. These backup power plants are essential for the existence of solar and wind power,
4 bis) the reduced efficiency of the backup power plants (gas, coal, oil, nuclear). These power plants have costs whether they produce electricity or not. When solar and wind power are operating, they divert production from backup power plants, which continue to incur maintenance costs and whose annual output decreases. Worse still, for nuclear power plants, the fluctuations in power demand put a strain on the plants and necessitate additional maintenance.
5) Stabilization and control costs. Remember that Spain and Portugal were without electricity for almost 24 hours; tons and tons of food were lost. Commodities that, in addition to the loss, must be removed, reprocessed, replaced (new production, new transport, new storage, etc.)... not to mention the human cost,
6) storage costs (and their impending disasters),
7) hidden costs: future dismantling, soil remediation, waste reprocessing, blades impossible to recycle...
8) the costs of impact on soils and biodiversity, migratory birds, significant deforestation for the installation, disturbance of the seabed, access roads that are like bloodletting through nature...
9) Impact on health, livestock, homes, infrasound, electromagnetic interference, stray currents...
10) pollution from the mineral oil needed for the wind turbine gearboxes, microplastics from the blades that degrade, de-icing by helicopter with ethylene glycol,
11) the devastating effect of negative prices. While these energy sources are far too scarce during the day, they become vastly surplus at certain times. Far from being good news, this excess severely disrupts the physical balance of the grid, triggering a surge of electricity that consumers don't need and an economic shockwave that pushes electricity prices into negative territory. The damage caused by this mechanism, which also enriches predatory and mafia-like private entities, cannot be overstated.