Australia may stop building coal-fired power plants

Building wind power farms is now 14 percent cheaper than a coal-fired power station.

It is also 18 percent cheaper than a new gas one.

The gap widens further when the carbon tax is added. Wind farms can now generate electricity at $80 per megawatt hour, compared with $143 per MWh for a new coal power station and $116 for a new baseload gas power station.

In Western Australia, large-scale photovoltaic power stations are already cheaper than new coal-fired power plants.

Based on these figures Bloomberg New Energy Finance said it is unlikely that Australia may build new coal-fired power stations.

BNEF estimates the cost of wind generation has fallen by 10 percent and the cost of solar PV by 29 percent since 2011, and further technology advances will drive prices lower.

By 2020, wind power's cost per MWh will drop to $70 and then to $66 by 2030. The cost of large-scale solar PVs will drop to $97 for an equivalent amount of electricity and then to $87 10 years later, Mr Bhavnagri said.

Aside from the carbon tax - which the Coalition has vowed to scrap if it wins the September 14 election - reputational and other risks associated with coal means developers will struggle to obtain low-cost funding for any new venture. The research included a survey of the country's big four banks.

''Financing for coal would be made very expensive because of all the risks involved,'' said Kobad Bhavnagri, head of clean energy research for BNEF in Australia.

For more.