The CSIRO has admitted that coal is the cheapest form of electricity.

Misleading. It found that coal and renewables have roughly the same midpoint cost in 2024, and the latter is projected to be the cheapest in 2030.

A Nationals senator’s claim that Australia’s public science organisation has admitted that coal is the cheapest form of electricity is misleading.

The CSIRO’s report found that new coal and renewables projects, with firming, had roughly the same price midpoint in 2024, and it projected renewables would be significantly cheaper in 2030.

Experts also say basing the claim on 2024 figures is unrealistic because new power plants take years to construct and new projects will not be built at those prices.

Senator Matt Canavan made the claim in a a Facebook post featuring an image of a bar chart showing the “Levelised cost of electricity” for various power generation technologies for 2024.

“BREAKING: The CSIRO has finally admitted that coal is the cheapest form of electricity,” he wrote.

“This is even after they bias almost all of their assumptions against coal and in favour of wind and solar!”

Contacted for evidence supporting his claim, Canavan’s office pointed to an opinion piece published in Central Queensland Today, which he posted on........

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