The cost varies according to the circumstances but as a ball-park figure, you could assume that solar and wind power (energy actually) costs up to 5 to 25 times the cost of coal and nuclear energy. These two forms of energy are not suitable for making a worthwhile contribution to public electricity supplies BUT they cannot be beaten in remote locations.
I have a chart showing relative costs of various forms of power on my page at “http://ramblingsdc.net/Australia/WindPower.html#Electricity generation costs”.
It is difficult to compare costs from different sources, especially since fossil fuel power comes with huge costs to the environment (climate change, ocean acidification, etc.) which are not paid for by the fossil fuel power stations. If the coal- gas- and oil-fired power stations had to keep the carbon dioxide that they produce out of the atmosphere then their electricity would be more expensive than solar or wind power.
The cost varies according to the circumstances but as a ball-park figure, you could assume that solar and wind power (energy actually) costs up to 5 to 25 times the cost of coal and nuclear energy. These two forms of energy are not suitable for making a worthwhile contribution to public electricity supplies BUT they cannot be beaten in remote locations.
I have a chart showing relative costs of various forms of power on my page at “http://ramblingsdc.net/Australia/WindPower.html#Electricity generation costs”.
It is difficult to compare costs from different sources, especially since fossil fuel power comes with huge costs to the environment (climate change, ocean acidification, etc.) which are not paid for by the fossil fuel power stations. If the coal- gas- and oil-fired power stations had to keep the carbon dioxide that they produce out of the atmosphere then their electricity would be more expensive than solar or wind power.