Figure 11.6 Viability of Space to Earth Solar Power Satellite Operation The impact of this analysis will now be discussed with respect to the stage implementation of ISPO programs, introduced in section 11.2.3 of this report. First Business Application The first business application of space to earth beamed power will be step 3 of the SSPP staged plan. This will deliver 1MW of intermittent power to remote locations over a ten year lifetime. The cost of power delivery in these areas will be substantial so a high price can be charged for power delivery. The utilization of world aid funds to developing countries to finance part of this project will mean that power delivery to some of these areas will be provided free of charge and will be used as a demonstration to expand the market for larger sources of power supply to other areas. From the above analysis we see that the recurring cost of a multi-satellite system would have to produce 76 million kWhrs of energy to become viable. For a 1 MW system operated over 10 years the satellite will have to be operated for 7600 hours per year continuously. This will not be possible for this system which will supply remote locations and hence will not be financially viable. However this system will be needed to demonstrate the reliability of moderate scale power supply from space. First large scale application The first large scale application of space to earth power delivery will provide 500MW of continuous baseload power directly to the electricity grid for a period of 15 years. The revenue generated form this venture will be provided at three costs for power, to reflect the uncertain price of energy in the future. This system could generate total revenues of: $ 16.425 BN @ $0,025 per kWh $ 32.850 BN @ $0.05 per kWh $ 65.700 BN @ $0.10 per kWh The cost of this satellite would be of the order of $23 BN. However the development costs have been estimated to be of the order of $110 BN. The system could pay for it's own operation but as a true business venture it would be far from profitable. For a multi-satellite system the recurring cost of each satellite would have to drop to something approaching $3 BN, and the current state of technology does not allow for this.
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