Counting the hidden costs of energy by Barry Brook

BraveNewClimate

Counting the hidden costs of energy by Barry Brook When comparing power sources, we have to take the costs of system effects into account. By Martin Nicholsonhttp://bravenewclimate.com/2013/03/22/counting-hidden-costs-of-energy/ and Barry Brook. This article was first published on The Conversation   . A response was then published on Business Spectator. It is worth reading both pieces, and the comments that followed them (for instance, Martin's reply). A recent Bloomberg press release  got wide coverage with its claim that wind power is now cheaper than coal. But a new report from the OECD shows that when you cover the full cost to the grid, variable renewables like wind don’t add up as favourably. It is often claimed  that introducing variable renewable energy resources such as solar and wind into the electricity network comes with some extra cost penalties, due to “system effects”. These system effects include intermittent electricity access, network congestion, instability, environmental impacts, and security of supply. Now a new report  from the OECD titled System Effects of Low-Carbon Electricity Systems gives some hard dollar values for these additional imposts. The OECD work focuses on nuclear power, coal, gas, and renewables such as wind and solar. Their conclusion is that grid-level system costs can have significant impacts on the total cost of delivered electricity for some power-generation technologies.