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PoliteThaiBeep t1_j5030gs wrote

Reply to comment by gay_manta_ray in OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman won't tell you when they reach AGI, and they're closer than he wants to let on: A procrastinator's deep dive by Magicdinmyasshole

Uh, solar farms are already below 2 cents/kWh for 20 year contracts in some places like Chile, wind is below 4 cents/kWh right here in the US, I think it was an Arizona contract.

And they were over 15 cents/kWh just in 2014. To point out to rapid economy of scale happening.

For comparison brand new coal and gas plants are relatively flat and stay at around 6 cents/kWh for modern high tech plant.

But just maintaining already existing coal/gas plants is still making a little bit of sense, but the thing is we're very close to when it doesn't make sense. Building a brand new solar and wind farms will be cheaper than maintaining already working coal/gas plant.

That's where we are. It'll almost completely bottom out in about a decade.

And solar requires zero maintenance, wind does require it, but it's price highlights how little it costs.

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Warrior_Runding t1_j50nwjc wrote

To add to this, there are also proposals to converting old, stable mine shafts into gravity batteries. We are coming up to an interesting moment in human development and history.

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Artanthos t1_j50pkhw wrote

If your think anything requires zero maintenance your not looking at the larger picture, just one very small piece.

You still have to maintain the entire power grid, pay your employees, replace aging equipment, etc.

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