Dec 31st Closing Price, page-13

still have to have coal.

a huge amount of people (including almost all the journalists who cover this) dont understand that coal/diesel and uranium are still the only ubiquitously applicable 'baseload' power generation fuels

hydro can deliver baseload but you have to have huge amounts of water. so its only available in very specific locations.

thats why SA had blackouts - because while they had 'theoretically' enough power supply tp meet their needs - theyd shifted too far to wind/solar sources that fluctuate in how much power they deliver

baseload is particularly key for meeting 'peak' period demand - ep peak+ when hot and cold temperature spikes that drive everyone to use more air con or heating during business hours

thats why early afternoon is tyically the highest price point in a day

with coal/diesl uranium you can basically flick a switch to meet the added demand

solar/wind just give what they give -they cant turn o a dime to add 30% more

this is part of why Mucsk raves on about battery tech- if your get large enough and efficient enough energy storage you can lower the reliance on fossil fuel baseload

but stored power tends to degrade very fast and isnt v portable.

thats another reaosn why SA, WA and NT are much more susceptible than the east coast where theres more ablity for power to move between urban centres to meet specific demand surges