According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm? Twumb and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairman Rohde Sims has recently refuted the rumors of rising electricity prices caused by renewable energy. They say the impact of renewable energy on electricity prices is minimal.
Reported that over the past few decades, Australians frequently by the parliament and some of the community's minority voice guidance, many people think that the transition to renewable energy-oriented society will make Australia lose its competitiveness, weaken its industry and even lead to price increases. In fact, economic research shows that renewable energy is more cheap energy.
Sims said in an interview, it is easy to overlook is that over the past decade, rising electricity costs are 41% of the grid maintenance costs. He also mentioned that the retailer's additional charges were up to 24%, while green energy projects accounted for only 16%.
In this regard, the Sydney University of Science and Technology Research Center, chief researcher Dr. Shen Xueleng in an interview with the People's Network, said the high price is the result of a variety of factors. From the price structure, the main reason is the continuous increase in the price of transmission and distribution. And relatively speaking, the price of electricity, whether renewable energy or natural gas power generation, the role is relatively small. Renewable energy in the past will really push up the price, but for now and in the future, this role will gradually disappear. While natural gas prices become a hot spot in the near future, their role in pushing up electricity is overestimated. Although the current price of natural gas is relatively high, but most of Australia's natural gas is sold through long-term contracts, and the contract price is much lower than the spot price. However, in the long term, natural gas power generation will become the decisive factor in the formation of electricity prices. Therefore, the establishment of a transparent price of natural gas market is very critical.
In recent years, Australia's natural gas prices have quadrupled. More paradoxically, as one of the world's most abundant natural gas reserves, its domestic prices are much higher than the export price. A survey by the Australian Competition and Consumption Commission shows that natural gas exports in the east coast of 2018 are likely to have a severe shortage due to continued growth in natural gas exports, followed by a sharp rise in electricity prices. The Australian government has recently implemented the Australian domestic gas safety mechanism, which can limit the export of liquefied natural gas to meet domestic demand. If the price of natural gas in Australia can be slowed down, the electricity bill may fall.
In addition, the debate on energy structure in Australia has not seen any improvement. Some industry insiders believe that, compared with the coal industry, clean energy failed to get enough government subsidies, at a disadvantage. But people have overlooked the coal industry to get a lot of subsidies after the secondary impact, such as the health costs of residents and so on.
Based on this controversy, Shi Xupeng that renewable energy development in Australia, the bottleneck has two aspects. First, decentralized renewable energy, such as residential roof photovoltaic power generation. The history of subsidies has played a significant role. At present, the proportion of Australian residents' roof PV is the highest in the world. This future subsidies will gradually be reduced, and even disappear. Second, centralized large-scale renewable energy power generation, such as wind farms. He also made recommendations in this area, "the development of this area, the current point of view, mainly rely on the Government to develop renewable energy targets to promote the future with the reduction of renewable energy costs to promote its development factors, The need to change from policy to electricity market design, so that renewable energy can be consumed by the electricity market.Carbon tax or other forms of carbon prices, but also conducive to the development of renewable energy.
In the final analysis, the level of power generation is the price competition in this price to win the key. In particular, the cost of installation into consideration, the advantages of wind and solar energy is more prominent. Renewable energy power plants from production to build only 1 to 3 years, while the thermal power plant will need 4 to 7 years, and the higher cost.
Finally, Shi Xunpeng also mentioned that the long-term momentum of renewable energy development is to lower prices. "This can be achieved through two aspects, one through technological research and development breakthrough, so that the price of key equipment to decline.Fourth, through economies of scale and technological progress, making renewable energy equipment manufacturing prices decline. At the same time, the advanced technology and research and development of such countries in Australia are very important, and the second point will be to achieve such a huge market and manufacturing capacity in China, which is one of the areas where China and Australia can cooperate. "Shi said.