2025-04-28
Disclaimer
Basic numbers of industrial civilisation that I wish I was taught in school instead of having to figure out myself in adulthood. The point is not to memorise the numbers, it is to get an overall picture that is quantitative and to be able to do these calculations on-the-fly. I'm sure this gets taught in college as energy economics or something, just disappointed I was not taught.
Electricity cost for consumer : $0.10 / kWh
Bituminous coal : 2.2 kWh / kg, $110 / metric tonne => $0.05 / kWh Coal power plant construction cost : $3k / kW, 50 year lifespan, 50% efficiency => $0.014 / kWh Coal power plant operating cost : $0.01 / kWh labour + $0.006 / kWh maintenance labour + $0.004 / kWh maintenance materials + $0.005 / kWh ash pond, scrubbers, etc = $0.025 / kWh
Cost of coal is primary cost for cost of electricity
Bituminous coal price : $110 / metric tonne
Thermal coal mine construction cost : $50 / (metric tonne / year), 30 year lifespan => $1.67 / metric tonne
Thermal coal mine operating cost : $35 / metric tonne
Thermal coal transportation cost : $10-$50 / metric tonne
Cost of transporting coal is the primary cost for cost of coal
(I need to double-check this with someone. Main doubt I have is that electricity tranmission loss is 7% / 1000 km whereas calorific value loss for coal transport by train is atleast 30% / 1000 km. Why is it assumed cheaper to transport coal than transport electricity? Typically coal power plants are built closer to electricity demand centres and far from coal mines.)
Steel cost : $1000 / metric tonne
Steel plant construction cost : $700 / (metric tonne / year), 40 year lifespan => $17.50 / metric tonne
Steel plant operating cost : $900-1000 / metric tonne
Assuming BF-BOF route, materials required per metric tonne steel
(These numbers don't add up to $600 / metric tonne. unsure why)
Cost of iron ore and coal are the primary costs for cost of steel
To do
To do
To do
https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix