The stupidity of government subsidies for "renewable" energy is...

The stupidity of government subsidies for "renewable" energy is shown in the brief seven year life of this huge solar panel installation at Doonguna in WA:

(from 'The AFR'):

"...But in 2024, the party will end.

Sandfire has extracted the last of DeGrussa’s copper, and in this remote part of Australia, there are no other customers to buy such vast quantities of solar power.

The planes now bring technical workers charged with decommissioning the project, as Neoen plans to remove the panels and rehabilitate the site.

Soon, red dust will be all that remains of the $20.9 million of taxpayers’ funds invested into the project by ARENA. So, was it really worth it?

The legacy of the DeGrussa solar project isn’t particularly impressive when measured in dollars.

Market disclosures by Sandfire over the past seven years suggest a total of 80,687 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions were avoided at DeGrussa because the mine consumed solar power rather than diesel.

Based on the $20.9 million committed to the project by ARENA, each tonne of greenhouse gas avoided at DeGrussa cost the taxpayer about $259.

That’s dramatically higher than the $32 a tonne carbon price implied by the market price..."