CANBERRA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Solar and wind remain the cheapest source of energy in Australia, the national science agency has revealed.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) on Friday published its annual GenCost report in conjunction with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
It found that renewable sources of energy will continue to be Australia's cheapest into the long-term future.
"Even taking into account these extra system integration costs, solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind continue to be the cheapest new sources of electricity for any expected share of renewables in the grid - anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent," Paul Graham, the CSIRO's Chief Energy Economist, said in a media release.
"This is projected to continue to be the case throughout the projection period to 2050."
The report also found that solar PV and batteries will continue to experience the fastest cost reduction of any energy source.
It said that in order to "realize their full potential" technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), solar thermal and small modular reactors require "stronger global investment."
CCS was one of five priority low-emissions technologies identified for investment over the next 10 years in the federal government's Technology Investment Roadmap, which was released in September, along with hydrogen, soil carbon, storage options and "low carbon" steel and aluminium.
Nicola Falcon, the Group Manager of Forecasting at AEMO, said that the annual report was critical to future modelling efforts.
"Electricity generation costs are a key ingredient into the electricity sector modelling which underpins much of the sector's strategic planning and policy analysis, including our Integrated System Plan," she said.
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