{"id":49210,"date":"2021-04-19T13:54:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T03:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=49210"},"modified":"2021-04-19T14:48:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T04:18:59","slug":"inflexible-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/inflexible-fossil-fuels\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflexible Fossil Fuels: Why Starting And Stopping Coal &#038; Gas Power Costs Big Bucks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_49500\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49500\" class=\"wp-image-49500 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/control-station.jpg\" alt=\"Starting and stopping coal or gas power stations\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/control-station.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/control-station-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/control-station-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/control-station-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-49500\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A power station control room. Starting up one of these things is not trivial or cheap.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Coal power is gradually being driven out of business by renewables.\u00a0 It simply can&#8217;t compete on price.\u00a0 Most people know coal and gas power stations have to pay for fuel while sunshine and wind are free, but not many know how much it costs to start and stop fossil fuel generators.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The cost is massive.\u00a0 This is a major problem for fossil fuel finances because, as renewable generation grows, it creates more periods of low wholesale electricity prices that force coal and gas generation to either shut down or operate at a loss.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Electranet report &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electranet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/projects\/2016\/11\/508986-REP-ElectraNet-Generator-Technical-And-Cost-Parameters-23July2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Generator Technical and Cost Parameters<\/a> &#8212; published in July last year, the cost of a cold start-up of all generating units of Australia&#8217;s largest gas and largest coal power stations is estimated to be&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Torrens_Island_Power_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Torrens Island 1,280 MW gas power station<\/a>:\u00a0 $280,000<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eraring_Power_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eraring 2,880 MW black coal power station<\/a>:\u00a0 $1,580,000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you instead consider Australia&#8217;s largest coal power station to be Loy Yang A and B combined &#8212; which is reasonable &#8212; then its estimated cold start cost would be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Loy_Yang_Power_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Loy Yang A &amp; B 3,280 MW brown coal power station(s)<\/a>:\u00a0 $1,800,000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The reason starting fossil fuel power plants burns big bucks is partially due to the fuel required to warm it up and get things started, but it&#8217;s mostly because of wear and tear from expansion and contraction caused by changes in heat and pressure.\u00a0 It dramatically increases the need for maintenance and the frequency of overhauls.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_49466\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49466\" class=\"size-full wp-image-49466\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/overhauls.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/overhauls.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/overhauls-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/overhauls-768x421.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-49466\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I said overhauls, not overalls. (Image: The Observer)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Due to the cost, fossil fuel power stations hate to shut down.\u00a0 But wind and solar energy are eating their lunch by creating periods of very low or zero electricity prices.\u00a0 Solar power mostly does it around lunchtime, while wind tends to snack from the fossil fuel money fridge very early in the morning.<\/p>\n<p>Cutting output to a low level during these times normally isn&#8217;t an option due to the inflexibility of most coal and gas power stations.\u00a0 They simply cannot turn down the power as far as they&#8217;d like.\u00a0 Victoria&#8217;s brown coal power stations are the worst in this regard and generally can&#8217;t operate below 60% of maximum output for an extended period without shutting down.\u00a0 While a power station may have several units that can be shut down individually, starting them up again can still be an expensive problem.<\/p>\n<p>If you want more details on why it is so expensive to stop and start coal and gas power stations and why it means fossil fuel generation isn&#8217;t just boned but super-boned, read on.\u00a0 If you already know all about this, then good work.\u00a0 You can reward yourself by <a href=\"https:\/\/xkcd.com\/1732\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reading a web comic<\/a>.\u00a0 But if you don&#8217;t know and don&#8217;t care, then, for your insouciance, I sentence you to watch this video by a high school teacher on why climate change is an absolute nightmare:<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\"><iframe title=\"Climate Change Is An Absolute Nightmare - This Is Why\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uqwvf6R1_QY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Start-Up Cost Components<\/h2>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t cost much to turn on a PV solar system, whether it&#8217;s a tiny 2 kilowatt rooftop system or a huge solar farm.\u00a0 The energy the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/inverters\/\">solar inverter<\/a> requires comes from the panels, so it mostly comes down to wear and tear on the switch.\u00a0 Being turned on and off may cause some wear and tear on the inverter&#8217;s electronics, but it&#8217;s not going to be very significant.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/\">Solar panels<\/a> are a unique form of generating infrastructure because they may suffer less wear and tear from being used to generate electricity than when the system is off.\u00a0 This is because they don&#8217;t get quite as hot when used to generate electricity.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to wind power, I&#8217;m afraid I only half understand how it works because I&#8217;m only half Dutch.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_49446\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49446\" class=\"size-full wp-image-49446\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/windmill.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"603\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/windmill.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/windmill-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/windmill-768x463.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-49446\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Looking at that sky, you can see why the Dutch decided to give wind power a go before solar.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>But starting a wind turbine wouldn&#8217;t cost much more than solar, as the wind does most of the work.\u00a0 The onboard computer will need a little power, and maybe the lubricating oil needs to be warmed up &#8212; but perhaps that&#8217;s only in cold countries?\u00a0 I don&#8217;t know.\u00a0 I lack the genes that would give me that knowledge.\u00a0 Anyway, whatever the cost is, it&#8217;s going to be bloody low.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, fossil fuel generation has all kinds of start-up costs.\u00a0 These are broken down into seven areas:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Non-fixed labour:\u00a0 A start-up involves more work than not starting up, so labour costs increase.<\/li>\n<li>General engineering costs:\u00a0 People have to be paid to make sure stuff that&#8217;s not supposed to blow up doesn&#8217;t.<\/li>\n<li>General management costs:\u00a0 Someone needs to make sure everyone shows up for work, follows the rules, adheres to safety procedures, electricity price offers get bid in, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U6qBnykH0DU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">wake up Homer Simpson<\/a>, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Maintenance and Overhaul Expenditures:\u00a0 While any system of generation that requires flames and\/or controlled explosions to generate power will suffer wear and tear while in use, one of the biggest causes of wear and tear is cooling off and heating up.\u00a0 This is a massive cost for coal power.<\/li>\n<li>Start-up Auxiliary Power:\u00a0 Most power stations cannot start themselves and require power from the grid to get going.\u00a0 This makes a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Black_start\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">black start<\/a> &#8212; which is getting a grid going again after a total blackout &#8212; a tricky process.<\/li>\n<li>Start-up Fuel:\u00a0 Fuel has to be consumed to get a power station warmed up and working.<\/li>\n<li>Start-up Consumables:\u00a0 Fuel additives, water, and other chemicals<sup class='endnote'><a href='https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/inflexible-fossil-fuels\/#en-49210-1' id='enref-49210-1' onclick='return hhEndnotes_show(49210)'>1<\/a><\/sup> can be required to get a power station going.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>How much a fossil fuel power station has to pay to cover these start-up costs depends on the type of generation and how cold it is when the start-up occurs.<\/p>\n<h2>Fossil Fuel Generation&#8217;s 6 Types<\/h2>\n<p>The report covered the 6 main types of fossil fuel generation:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT):\u00a0 Many small, controlled, gas explosions are used to spin a turbine to generate electricity.\u00a0 The waste heat is wasted.<\/li>\n<li>Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT):\u00a0 Same as OCGT, but the waste heat is used to generate electricity.\u00a0 It&#8217;s more complex but more energy efficient.<\/li>\n<li>Gas Steam Turbine:\u00a0 Gas is burned to boil water to create steam that turns a turbine.\u00a0 It&#8217;s basically what happens when gas generation gets drunk and tries to be a coal power station.\u00a0 While there are a number of small ones, the only large one in Australia is on Torrens Island in South Australia and the information in the report is based on it.<\/li>\n<li>Reciprocating Engine:\u00a0 A giant truck engine with a crankshaft and pistons used to generate electricity.\u00a0 Runs off gas, diesel, kerosene, or a mix.\u00a0 The report only considers large ones.<\/li>\n<li>Brown Coal:\u00a0 Low quality coal is burned to make steam to spin a turbine.\u00a0 Very fatal.<\/li>\n<li>Black Coal:\u00a0 Higher quality coal is burned to make steam to turn a turbine.\u00a0 Very fatal but not as fatal as brown coal.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Hot, Warm, &amp; Cold Starts<\/h2>\n<p>The report divides start-ups into three categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hot:\u00a0 The generator hasn&#8217;t been shut down for long.\u00a0 Depending on the type of generator, this can be from 1 to 12 hours.<\/li>\n<li>Warm:\u00a0 I probably don&#8217;t need to explain this is the state between hot and cold.\u00a0 Because they cool off quickly, the report doesn&#8217;t consider OCGT and Reciprocating Engine generation to have this category of start-up.<\/li>\n<li>Cold:\u00a0 Brass monkeys.\u00a0 It can take from 1 to 48 hours to get into this category, depending on generation type.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The typical time each type of fossil fuel generation needs to be shut down to require a hot, warm, or cold start is shown in the table below:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49487 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods2.png\" alt=\"Electricity generators - hot, warm and cold start durations\" width=\"979\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods2.png 979w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods2-300x82.png 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods2-768x209.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 979px) 100vw, 979px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As you can see, the two types of generation that take the most time to cool off are the country&#8217;s single large Gas Steam Turbine power station and coal generation.\u00a0 This is due to the massive size of these generators.\u00a0 It is an advantage over other types of fossil fuel generation, but it is the only advantage coal generation has.<\/p>\n<h2>Start-up Costs<\/h2>\n<p>The table below gives the costs per megawatt (MW) of generating capacity for the different kinds of start-ups.\u00a0 To determine the cost for an entire power station, multiply its capacity in megawatts by the relevant amount on the table<sup class='endnote'><a href='https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/inflexible-fossil-fuels\/#en-49210-2' id='enref-49210-2' onclick='return hhEndnotes_show(49210)'>2<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>These estimates are for typical Australian generators of each type.\u00a0 So it&#8217;s for a new reciprocating engine, since the only large ones we have are fairly new, and it&#8217;s for an old coal power station since the average age of our coal power stations is high.\u00a0 The last time we built a coal power station was 12 years ago in Western Australia.\u00a0 It was, of course, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2020-12-17\/bluewaters-coal-fired-power-station-written-off-books\/12990532\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">huge mistake<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49489 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_costs2.png\" alt=\"Electricity generator startup costs per megawatt capacity\" width=\"1001\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_costs2.png 1001w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_costs2-300x86.png 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_costs2-768x219.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1001px) 100vw, 1001px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As you can see, coal power has &#8212; by far &#8212; the highest start-up costs for every category.\u00a0 This why the start-up of a large coal power station can cost over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=l91ISfcuzDw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one million dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Responsiveness &#8212; Coal Is Slow<\/h2>\n<p>When it comes to the time required to start up, coal power also takes the longest time in every category, as the following table shows:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49491 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods29.png\" alt=\"Electricity generator start-up time\" width=\"1001\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods29.png 1001w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods29-300x96.png 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_periods29-768x246.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1001px) 100vw, 1001px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Coal power and Gas Steam Turbine require the longest periods of time to get going.\u00a0 The Gas Steam Turbine takes so long because it operates in a similar way to coal power.<\/p>\n<p>Reciprocating Engines and Open Cycle Gas Turbines are the most responsive fossil fuel generators and best able to respond to a shortfall in the supply of electricity quickly.<\/p>\n<h2>Minimum Stable Output<\/h2>\n<p>This final table shows the estimated minimum output different types of fossil fuel generation can operate at without shutting down.\u00a0 There are two figures for CCGT because there are two main types.\u00a0 As you can see, the first type of CCGT and Brown Coal have the least flexibility and normally can&#8217;t operate at under 60% of their full load.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49492 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_stable2.png\" alt=\"Electricity generators minimum stable operating load\" width=\"739\" height=\"307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_stable2.png 739w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/start_up_stable2-300x125.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 739px) 100vw, 739px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>These figures will vary from power station to power station.\u00a0 It may be physically possible for power stations to operate under these percentages, but it&#8217;s not done for practical reasons.\u00a0 For example, while Open Cycle Gas Turbines can operate at a much lower output than 50%, most need to be run around that load or higher to limit their nitrous oxide emissions.<\/p>\n<h2>Renewables Driving Coal Power Extinct<\/h2>\n<p>Coal power&#8217;s high start-up costs combined with inflexibility means the decreasing cost of renewable energy is driving it towards extinction.<\/p>\n<p>This is a good thing because it&#8217;s either us or it.\u00a0 And I vote for us.<\/p>\n<p>Two types of gas generation &#8212; Open Cycle Gas Turbine and Reciprocating Engine &#8212; can respond quickly and flexibly to changes in electricity prices and have relatively low start-up costs.\u00a0\u00a0 They can shut down during periods of low electricity prices that result from renewable energy&#8217;s zero fuel cost and start up again when the price rises.\u00a0 But this won&#8217;t save them.<\/p>\n<p>With the cost of renewable energy and battery storage still falling, this just means they&#8217;ll be the last to die.\u00a0 Hopefully, it won&#8217;t be too long before all fossil fuel generation goes the way of the dinosaur.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-49464\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dinosaurs_super_boned.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dinosaurs_super_boned.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dinosaurs_super_boned-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/dinosaurs_super_boned-768x425.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coal power is gradually being driven out of business by renewables.\u00a0 It simply can&#8217;t compete on price.\u00a0 Most people know coal and gas power stations have to pay for fuel while sunshine and wind are free, but not many know how much it costs to start and stop fossil fuel generators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Huge Cost Of Starting And Stopping Fossil Fuel Electricity Generators<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The costs to start and stop coal and gas-fired power stations are huge - and that&#039;s a major problem. Find out more here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/inflexible-fossil-fuels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inflexible Fossil Fuels: Why Starting And Stopping Coal &amp; Gas Power Costs Big Bucks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The costs to start and stop coal and gas-fired power stations are huge - and that&#039;s a major problem. 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Energy must be expended.\u00a0 Some people get very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar and the Environment&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar and the Environment","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-and-the-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar vs. coal - mining materials","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mining-truck.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mining-truck.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mining-truck.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mining-truck.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mining-truck.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17229,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/coal-gas-fail-mb0338\/","url_meta":{"origin":49210,"position":4},"title":"As Summer Sizzles, Coal And Gas Power Wilts","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"December 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Extreme heat presents the greatest threat to the security of electricity supply in eastern Australia states a new report published by the Australia Institute. 3600 MW of coal and gas generation in Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM) failed during critical demand periods in the February 2017 heatwave (around 11% )\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coal fired power station","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/coal-power-station.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/coal-power-station.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/coal-power-station.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/coal-power-station.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54798,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-favourite-australia-mb2193\/","url_meta":{"origin":49210,"position":5},"title":"Solar Power Remains Favourite Energy Source Among Australians","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2021 Climate Of A Nation poll found the vast majority of Australians again ranked solar power among their top three preferred energy sources. 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Commissioned by The Australia Institute (TAI), Climate of the Nation gauges attitudes in the community on climate change and related issues;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Climate of a Nation - solar power","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/australia-solar-popularity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/australia-solar-popularity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/australia-solar-popularity.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/australia-solar-popularity.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/australia-solar-popularity.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49210"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49509,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49210\/revisions\/49509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}