THE FUTURE OF YOUR POWER BILL

Prices for power are going up rapidly. The price of wholesale power has quadrupled in the last 12 months with gas, coal and oil prices all rising. Liddell is now off and further closures are likely to push prices higher. The Federal Government says renewable power must come online sooner to fill in the shortfall in Australia’s current energy needs. Not only that but we need a great deal more of it to reach the net zero target both sides of politics have committed to. The problem remains however that just how we get to this admirable target is not clear and at this point, it simply is impossible with technologies currently in use.

Firstly, there must be more investment in renewables. The grid needs substantial upgrading over coming years to meet the enormous challenges it will face in getting power to where it is needed. Solar and wind farms need to be built to harness the renewable energy and most importantly, huge storage capability needs to be put in place to cater for both night time power when there is no sun and to back up wind power when there is little breeze to power the turbines. In order to bring truly large-scale solar meeting base load demand to market this expenditure is essential.

Costing consumers

Today, most homeowners are paying around 20 - 25 cents per kWh. The cost of moving away from cheap coal and gas power must be met and no doubt, this cost will be passed to consumers in the form of higher power prices. Twice the cost is unreasonable and would have a major impact on the economy with lost jobs and lower living standards.

Renewable power and storage are seen as today's great saviour but they have their own problems. These include longevity, costs, maintenance and most importantly, the intermittent nature of most forms of renewables and the resultant issues of supplying base load power.

The cost of storage is possibly the most significant problem with renewable energy. Most storage installed today, cycled once per day, would last up to ten years before it would need replacing. This means the actual cost of energy stored and retrieved is something above 20 cents per kWh.

Given the actual cost of supplying the energy has to be taken into account, the transmission of this energy, billing maintenance and profit, it is hard to see the costs of energy to most users being under 40 cents per kWh or about double what it is today.

Sustainable solutions

Solar, with long-lasting batteries, is the best long-term solution for Australian homes and businesses. It is not only viable but advisable to minimise the impact of both current electricity prices along with future rises in this cost. It was a great investment over the last few years, but now the technology is imperative otherwise consumers remain at the mercy of the power providers who, themselves, face enormous challenges in the future.

Sustainable and long-lasting energy storage systems by Zenaji are a suitable option for customers concerned about the rising energy costs. Zenaji manufactures high-quality Lithium Titanate batteries for residential commercial and industrial purposes with the lowest cost per warranted kWh.

• Lowest Lifetime cost batteries

• 20 year or 22,000 Cycle warranty

• 100% depth of discharge

• Ultra safe LTO battery

• No thermal runway