South Australia is a good example. In 2023–24, wind supplied 45.2% of South Australia’s electricity generation, rooftop solar supplied 18.3%, and large-scale solar another 10.7%. In other words, roughly 74% of the state’s electricity generation came from wind and solar. [1]

And this isn’t a comparison that ignores inflation. AEMO publishes its historical wholesale electricity prices in real June 2024 dollars. South Australia’s average wholesale price in 2023–24 was A$79.53/MWh, compared with roughly A$95/MWh in 2012–13. It was also 40% lower than the previous year’s A$131.90/MWh. [1]

AEMO also specifically identifies increased rooftop and grid-scale solar output as one of the factors contributing to lower wholesale prices. [1]

So there’s a fairly straightforward example: South Australia reached roughly 74% wind and solar generation while its inflation-adjusted wholesale electricity price was lower than it had been around a decade earlier.

That obviously doesn’t mean renewables were the only factor affecting prices - electricity markets are influenced by fuel prices, interconnectors, demand, storage and plenty of other things. But it does disprove the claim that high penetration of wind and solar necessarily results in higher inflation-adjusted electricity prices.

[1] https://www.aemo.com.au/-/media/files/electricity/nem/planni...

I'm sure this wont be enough or acceptable though will it. It never is.