Expensive and cheap behind the hottest renewable e

"Expensive" and "cheap" behind renewable energy

at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum held not long ago, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady dvorkovic said that at present, renewable energy is still too expensive, and he is looking forward to making renewable energy cheaper through technological development

this sounds strange, but indeed, up to now, when talking about renewable energy, there are still many doubts that renewable energy is an "expensive creature" that relies on concessions and subsidies to survive. We should know that in today's world with rapid technological development, clean energy, which used to be unbearable and prohibitive, has become a priority that people can access and enjoy

renewable energy is a green and cheap energy

lazard investment bank's data (from the survey report Lev computer software lifelong free upgrade; elized cost of energy analysis-9.0) shows that in the United States, industrial wind power and solar power have actually become the most economical power generation mode, and only natural gas hybrid power generation can compete with it. The levelized kilowatt hour cost (lcoe) of wind power generation is 32-77 dollars/megawatt hour, the lcoe of solar power generation is 50-70 dollars/megawatt hour, the lcoe of steam and gas turbine power generation is 52-78 dollars/megawatt hour, and the lcoe of gas turbine power generation is 68-101 dollars/megawatt hour

according to the data of the U.S. Department of energy, as early as 2014, the average price of long-term power purchase contracts signed with U.S. wind power stations has fallen to 23.5 U.S. dollars/megawatt hour, which is lower than the wholesale electricity price in the same period in the United States. Before that, in 2009, the average price of wind power in the United States was as high as $70/MWh

at the same time, the price of solar power generation is also declining. At the beginning of 2015, the bid price of solar energy in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates was 58.4 US dollars per megawatt hour. This year, the bid price of solar energy in Peru and Mexico were 48 US dollars per megawatt hour and 36 US dollars per megawatt hour respectively. Not long ago, the bid price in the United Arab Emirates fell to a record 29.9 US dollars per megawatt hour

it can be seen that the cost of power generation with renewable energy is very low in many parts of the world. The statistics of newly installed electricity can prove that renewable energy is no longer an alternative energy. The installed capacity of renewable energy has achieved 100% net growth in the EU for two consecutive years. Solar power and wind power accounted for nearly 70% of the new installed capacity in the United States in 2015

in addition to asset depreciation, renewable energy power generation is almost free to use natural resources for one control horizontal cylinder (no fuel consumption is required in the process of renewable energy power generation). In addition, it is certain that the infrastructure investment cost of solar power and wind power will continue to decrease. In large renewable energy power generation projects in some major markets around the world, infrastructure investment has fallen to $1/watt, which has significantly reduced the cost of electricity

the current electricity price of renewable energy in Russia is higher than the current electricity price. Because of this, the Deputy Prime Minister talked about the "high price" of renewable energy at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. But it should be noted that, first of all, electricity price is not the only way to recover electric energy investment; Secondly, renewable energy power cannot be popularized all at once. It is a new industry developed step by step through a series of measures with the support of the state, which is very important. With the formation of the market, when the scale and efficiency of renewable energy power generation appear, various preferential measures and financial support can be gradually reduced

for example, in the 20 years before 2004, Germany provided a subsidy of 0.574 euros/kWh for green electricity tariffs to clean energy producers. Now the green subsidy for new projects is in the range of 0-0.13 euros/kWh, and the price of renewable energy power for industrial use is determined through bidding

at present, traditional energy subsidies far exceed renewable energy subsidies

looking at all fields of energy, whether nuclear power projects or oil and gas exploration projects, the cumulative amount of subsidies has exceeded renewable energy subsidies by several times. Even the old energy infrastructure built many years ago cannot operate without various forms of national financial support. Renewable energy is definitely not the main object of national financial support. Russian Nobel laureate roles Alferov once said that if even 15% of the funds we invest in nuclear energy are allocated to the development of alternative energy, we can now completely eliminate the need for nuclear power plants. According to the statistics of the International Energy Agency, the total amount of global fossil fuel consumption subsidies in 2014 was $493billion, three times more than the global renewable energy subsidies that year. In addition, the support for renewable energy is carried out in a transparent manner, and in most cases, including Russia, it comes from financial support outside the budget; Subsidies for fossil energy, nuclear energy and raw material resources are in the form of low transparency, including separately determined non-public subsidies and direct budget support

in the process of comparing various power generation methods, in addition to financial factors, more and more attention is paid to social and economic factors and the harmony of ecological enterprises, which covers the harmony between internal employees. If using cheap coal and other types of energy to produce electricity will increase disease and mortality, doesn't it mean that coal-fired or other forms of power generation will pay a high price? The International Monetary Fund in its survey report "how large are global tests, amends, and perfects theoretical energy subjects through practice?" It is directly pointed out in that energy subsidies are external factors that affect the development of various types of energy. Given our usual spending in the field of energy, renewable energy is absolutely superior to fossil fuel power generation in terms of economy

how to catch up in the field of renewable energy

whether Russia needs to develop renewable energy, and whether it needs to strengthen the development in the field of solar energy and wind energy - this is not only an energy issue, but also an issue of industrial policy and economic development. China, Germany, Japan, the United States and other major countries with solar energy installations are also leading industrial powers. In recent years, these countries are building new technology platforms in the field of energy and creating a rapidly developing renewable energy market. It is conservatively estimated that the total installed capacity of solar power stations in the world will increase from the current 230 GW to 600 GW by 2020. India plans to build 100 gigawatts of photovoltaic installed capacity by 2022. Iran has also adopted a large-scale renewable energy development plan

do you need to join this huge market now and become one of them, or wait for the opportunity and then choose the opportunity to acquire cheaper technology? Because, after all, the oil and gas revenue in our pockets has been shrinking. I'm afraid the outcome to be seen is bound to be a dead end. It is worth looking at the most important natural gas power generation in Russia's power generation structure. At present, even with the special preferential domestic gas price, the economic efficiency of Russian natural gas power stations is still low

therefore, Russia must occupy a place in the global market of new energy. On the one hand, it should increase the proportion of renewable energy power generation in its own market (of course, it should also take into account the suitability of the domestic natural environment, the existing power generation structure, the surplus of natural gas and other factors). On the other hand, it should rely on engineering solutions and end products to enter the international market

through comparison, it is clear at a glance what is "expensive" and "cheap". Under the old economic development mode with generally low per capita income, any modern technology is expensive. Negative waiting will lead to more backwardness. Even if technological development reduces production costs, backward economic strength is still unable to bear the popularization and promotion of renewable energy. Only by formulating long-term development plans, creating a domestic renewable energy industry development environment, protecting the interests of domestic renewable energy producers, continuously investing in renewable energy technology research and development, and subsidizing high capital investment, can we get rid of this vicious circle and catch up in the renewable energy field