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At £3.60 per watt capacity, the capital cost of this installation looks to be a good deal.
Assuming 3,300 hours of annual sunshine and a value of 7p per kwH, that equates to an annual yield at present energy prices of about 6.41% on capital.
This installation should have minimal maintenance, long life and rising energy prices in the future will increase future income.
dr venables prewller, Warminster, UK
One of the ways to 'cost' anything is the following statement..The efficient allocation of scarce resources..As all the 'greens', 'vision' people and other wacko's demand we do all sorts of enviro statements, I feel sure these figures will turn up. After a few years. This plant like the Olympic Village in London will be on the ashes of 'visions' pile.
Desmond Taylor, Houston, TX
Excellent news. Just shows what you can do by harnessing and using the gift of nature. A lesson Africa, blessed with the Sun, needs to adopt.
Olusola Odesanya-Muhammad, Windsor,
What a ludicrous white elephant. A back-of-the envelope calculation shows that the price this installation will need to sell its power to the grid is several times the going rate, even assuming a generous discount rate of 5% over its presumed 25 year lifespan, and its operation at maximum efficiency and with minimal operating expenses. To put it in perspective, would anyone countenance spending 4 billion pounds on a 1 GW conventional power station?
David Gillies, San Jose, Costa Rica