The world is entering an era of clean, unlimited and cheap power, although there is still a long way to go over the next few decades. The more green energy is deployed, the more subsidies are needed. The solution is not to put brakes on it, but to rethink how the world prices clean energy in order to make better use of it.
Three reason explain why power prices of green energy are low and public subsidies are addictive: The splurge of public subsidy; Green power is intermittent; Renewable energy has negligible or zero marginal running costs.
How to avoid stalling renewables revolution? Firstly, New technology, such as digitalization, smart meters and batteries, etc., can help fix the problem. by bonging some energy-intensive work at night, this helps to cope with intermittent supplier. Small, modular power plants are easy to flex up or down. High-voltage grids can move excess power around the network more efficiently. Moreover, Power markets need to be redesigned. Prices should be adjusted more frequently. Markets should reward those willing to use less electricity and those generating more of it. In addition, Policy makes should fix the out-of-date system of electricity pricing. They may present different prices for different packs of electricity consumption. Bills could be structured to be higher or lower depending how strongly a customer wanted guaranteed power.
Revolution is never easy. However, we need a cleaner and greener world to fight against the climate change and make the earth a better place to live. The government, market, generators, investors, consumers, all need to be devoted to this change.
