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	*Renewables, the most expensive power*		*Renewables mean higher power bills*
	Solar and wind are INTERMITTENT sources and therefore require backup so we have power as required 24 hours a day. Backup, such as batteries, must be provided when sun is not shining and wind not blowing. The cost of building these backup systems, which have to be paid for, whether they are used full time or not, results in the "renewables" being much more expensive than gas, coal or nuclear.		We need to apply the Scientific Method to this problem. The arithmetic is simple.

			*The huge cost of solar/wind*

				The "renewables" are intermittent supplies. To fully cost them we must include the cost of power sources to provide power when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow. Whatever backup source is used the capital cost must be paid for even if little power is used. We have costed the option using battery power at only 10% of the solar maximum capacity. The option of considering the capital cost with gas backup with no allowance made for any fuel costs results in a power cost more than twice that of solar alone. In these cases the solar and wind power cost we have calculated are an under estimate. We have also calculated the cost with 50% solar/wind with 50% per day using backup.


At first thought solar and wind look cheap, but you must add the standby costs. The chart above shows solar and wind with 50% usage plus battery with 50% usage. Also above we show the price of a battery charged by wind. Comparison costs are provided for nuclear, with gas shown for completeness.
			*Nuclear - the most economical option*
			We have calculated the Real cost of nuclear power. South Korea has been building nuclear power stations continually for a long time. They are consistently providing low cost nuclear plants. We have considered recent builds in 2019 and 2023. Correcting for the different construction costs in South Korea, inflation and converting to Australian dollars the build cost for nuclear in Australia is A$4400 / kW. To compare construction costs we considered recent build costs for gas power stations in both countries. We have used the method and many of the parameters from the CSIRO and AEMO reports to calculate the True cost of nuclear power at A$68 / MWh (only 7c / kWh).



			We provide accurate costs for nuclear and renewable backup, we use other costs from government reports unchecked. We are in the process of checking all costs.
		Above shows solar and wind with a minimum, 10%, of battery backup usage. Still more costly than Nuclear.

		*The table below is from AEMOGenCost2024-25ConsultDraft with additional data for renewable backup and nuclear.*