Myth:
Renewables are not only more expensive than fossil fuels, they also can’t provide baseload power, particularly when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
Fact:
This is simply untrue. In most parts of the world, solar and wind are cheaper than coal, and only a third the cost of nuclear power. Batteries and stored hydro can provide most of the backup we need to keep the lights on ‘when the sun don’t shine and the wind don’t blow’, as climate sceptics love to say. In fact, Britain’s National [Electricity] Grid set itself the target of operating completely fossil fuel-free by 2030. [Climate sceptics sometimes suggest that Britain will only be able to achieve this because of an excessive reliance on nuclear energy. This is not true either. Britain currently gets just 15 percent of its electricity from nuclear.] Scotland is even more advanced. It currently gets 97 percent of its electricity from renewables (mostly from wind). The other 3 percent comes from gas. And in Australia, South Australia now gets 76 percent of its electricity from renewables and is on track to reach almost 100 percent by the end of 2027.
As for the costs involved in eliminating fossil fuels from the grid, it is estimated that Australia will need to spend an additional $180 billion in wind and solar generation, plus about $20 billion in various forms of storage. This represents about $800 a year per person, over a ten-year period – or about $2.20 a day. Such an amount will hardly bankrupt the country.
Wattle Point wind farm in South Australia. By the end of 2027, the state’s electricity will almost all be produced by renewables. [Source: Flickr]
Sources:
Frank Zotzo, “We urgently need to cut emissions – the good news is we can do it quickly and relatively cheaply,” The Guardian, 5/4/22
Joshua S. Hill, “’Turning point’: Wind and solar deliver $810 bn in savings from fossil fuels in single year,” Renew Economy, 30/8/23
Giles Parkinson, “‘Seismic shift’: Energy crisis helped wind and solar stretch cost advantage over fossil fuels,” Renew Economy, 12/9/23
Sophie Vorrath, “It’s the S-Curve, stupid: New model predicts half of world’s energy will come from solar by 2035,” Renew Economy, 16/1/25
Nina Chestney, “Around 90% of renewables cheaper than fossil fuels worldwide, IRENA says,” Reuters, 25/7/25
Peter Newman and Ray Willis, “Climate action can feel slow – but the fastest energy leap in history has begun,” The Conversation, 11/9/25
David Leitch, “New global data confirms renewables are booming – and not just in the big economies,” Renew Economy, 22/2/26
Ray Wills, “Solar is already creating the fastest shift in electricity generation in history – and it is still accelerating,” Renew Economy, 11/6/26
Joshua S. Hill, “Renewables remain cheapest new power option, and avoided $US480bn in fossil fuel costs in 2025,” Renew Economy, 7/7/26
The Electric Viking, “The world just hit 3 terawatts of solar – and almost nobody noticed,” YouTube, 8/26