SoftBank Group and Saudi Arabia plan to spend $200B building a solar power plant

Re:SoftBank Group and Saudi Arabia plan to spend $200B build... by electricityUser on Thursday March 29, 2018 @06:29AM (#16705903)

If you get 2000 kWh/yr per kWp from PV there and have an installation of 200 GWp you'll end up with 400 TWh per year. If we assume a 25 year lifetime for this installation that's 9600 TWh. At cost of 200 billion dollars, wouldn't a MWh from this system cost close to $21 instead of $1?

Or - taking your numbers - the installation would have to last 400 years without operational costs considered. Isn't that a loss for whoever invests in something like this?

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Re:SoftBank Group and Saudi Arabia plan to spend $200B build... by Reason077 on Thursday March 29, 2018 @06:59AM (#16706009)

$21/MWh is very cheap energy. Far cheaper than any modern nuclear plant, and significantly cheaper than most fossil-fuelled energy even before you account for carbon/pollution externalities.

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Re:SoftBank Group and Saudi Arabia plan to spend $200B build... by onetimemanytime on Thursday March 29, 2018 @12:44PM (#16708510)

is that 2.1 cents a kwh? Dirt cheap.

I've read that solar panels (I have one for hot water) might lose some efficacy over the decades but even those installed 40 years ago are still working. I guess at some point it will be cost effective to replace them...or if the math works out leave them working at, say, 60% efficiency, and build a new one. It's not like they're running out of sunny places over there.

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