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Indian example shows solar power cheaper than coal – and half the price of nuclear
https://www.biznews.com/undictated/2016/04/20/indian-example-shows-solar-power-cheaper-than-coal-and-half-the-price-of-nuclear/
Modi’s Energy Minister Piyush Goyal is all over the media this week claiming Indian solar power is now cheaper than coal. He points to the sustained drop in solar costs punctuated by a recent auction of 420MW in the northern state of Rajasthan (population 73m) where solar hit a record low of 4.34 Rupees per MW (ZAR 94c). Coal costs between three and five Rupees.

Even more interesting for South Africans is the way solar is killing nuclear. An 84 page analysis by Deutsche Bank India puts the price of installed nuclear power a few cents higher than the new solar price. Nuclear’s capital cost per MW, however, is now double that of solar.

Not surprisingly, India is betting big on solar power, with a massive ramp up from the current 6 750 MW to 100 000 MW in the next five years, supported by a further 40% fall in capital costs. In the light of such overwhelming evidence (and the uranium-invested Guptas having left for Dubai) we expect an announcement soon officially abandoning SA’s crazy idea of a $100bn nuclear programme.