Green Electricity Costs a Bundle

The data make clear: The notion that solar and wind power save money is an environmentalist lie

By Bjorn Lomborg. Excerpts:

"The claim that green energy is cheaper relies on bogus math that measures the cost of electricity only when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. Modern societies need around-the-clock power, requiring backup, often powered by fossil fuels. That means we’re paying for two power systems: renewables and backup. Moreover, as fossil fuels are used less, those power sources need to earn their capital costs back in fewer hours, leading to even more expensive power.

This means the real energy costs of solar and wind are far higher than what green campaigners claim. One study shows that in China the real cost of solar power on average is twice as high as that of coal. Similarly, a peer-reviewed study of Germany and Texas shows that solar and wind are many times more expensive than fossil fuels. Germany, the U.K., Spain, and Denmark, all of which increasingly rely on solar and wind power, have some of the world’s most expensive electricity."

"clear correlation between more solar and wind and higher average household and industry energy prices. In a country with little or no solar and wind, the average electricity cost is about 12 cents a kilowatt-hour (in today’s money). For every 10% increase in solar and wind share, the electricity cost increases by more than 5 cents a kilowatt-hour."

"Take Germany, where electricity costs 30 cents a kilowatt-hour—more than twice the U.S. cost and more than three times the Chinese price. Germany has installed so much solar and wind that, on sunny and windy days, renewable energy satisfies close to 70% of Germany’s needs—a fact the press eagerly reports. But the press hardly mentions dark and still days, when these renewables deliver almost nothing. Twice in the past two months, when it was cloudy and nearly windless, solar and wind delivered less than 4% of the daily power Germany needed."

"Germany’s entire battery storage runs out in about 20 minutes."

"In the U.S., by contrast, consumers pay solar and wind costs indirectly—through tax deductions and subsidies.

"Solar and wind credits cost the federal government more than $20 billion in 2024, supplemented by state subsidies. Texas received about $2 billion in federal subsidies last year, and state government subsidies at least tripled that cost. This suggests a total hidden cost for the entire U.S. that perhaps runs more than $60 billion annually"

"If solar and wind really were less expensive, the world’s poorer countries would easily leapfrog from today’s energy poverty to energy abundance. New energy infrastructure would all be solar and wind. But this happens only in rich countries where generous subsidies and existing fossil-fuel backup infrastructure make our solar and wind deception possible."

"from 2022 to 2023 . . . Bangladesh added 13 times as much coal as solar and wind. Despite India’s ambitious solar targets, it added three times as much coal as solar and wind."