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Noting the price increases, I also note that the bulk generation price in $/MWHr have not really increased at the rate of retail prices. The prices being paid to generators only a few weeks ago is still similar to those being paid to generators 5 to 10yrs ago. Obviously this market is subject to large fluctuations when a machine falls over or near a weekend where a large thermal station may be paid as low as a few $/MWhr to stay on to avoid a costly run down and run up (on diesel oil - all the coal fired stns I'v worked at start on oil and shut down on oil).
Very interesting to observe (to my perception) the increasing gap between bulk and retail prices paid/charged.
On another note, I just returned from a recent trip to Europe where we are buying a small 40MW generator for new power station up north. The guys at the factory took us to their latest machine, a single 1800MW monster. This thing is going to a new nuclear power station. It takes 4yrs to build and the size of apartment block. This is only the generator - not the turbine.
Consider a grid (eg Europe) that has generation in the 10,000s of MW and try and base load that reliably & economically with the current technological offerings for renewable energy. Wind and solar are inherently chaotic sources. They can not be reliably predicted when required for base load.
I am a strong believer in distributed solar and the concept of distributed generation but the engineering reality must also be taken into consideration.
Darrin...
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