Part 7/9:
Hilton underscores that wind and solar contribute a minuscule 5% of Australia's power at any given time, citing data from a recent morning. This level of intermittency underscores the continued dependence on other, likely more traditional, energy sources such as coal, natural gas, or imports to meet the national demand.
She argues that claims of renewables being cheaper ignore the hidden costs of backing up variable energy sources, such as the need for energy storage, grid balancing, and additional transmission capacity. These factors are either undercounted or omitted entirely in the CSIRO's projections, resulting in a skewed perception of affordability.