Clean power plants: which is best in SimCity 3000

Contributor/author(s): Butlerboy (Mikkel Paulson)

There are four clean power sources. Each has its advantages and disadvantages (except the solar and waste to energy plants, which have nothing but disadvantages), but there is one that stands out above all the rest. By the way, I'm not including the nuclear plants in this list as they do produce some pollution.

Microwave
This seems to be a great deal: it produces 14000 MW-h of electricity and doesn't pollute at all. I often construct them in the middle of residential areas with no drop in aura or land value. However, that was before I looked into the cost per MW-h. As it turns out, microwave power costs 2.14 §/MW-h. That's nearly 20% more than a wind mill, even in the middle of a valley. However, it is the most space efficient of the clean power plants.

Solar
Solar power plants never seemed to me like a good deal, and my suspicions were verified when I did a bit of calculation: solar plants cost 3 §/MW-h, or half again as much as a microwave plant and 68% more than a wind mill. They are neither space nor cost efficient. However, they have been known to last over 100 years.

Waste to energy
This one is a real rip-off. It's cheaper to construct a solar plant and a normal incinerator... and the solar plant is the second most inefficient of any power plant in the game. I list it with clean power plants because the same amount of pollution would be generated by a normal incinerator anyway (slightly more, in fact), so the power itself is clean.

Wind Mill
This is the very best clean plant in existence. At its peak efficiency (on top of hills) it will give you 1.25 §/MW-h, or the exact same efficiency as a nuclear plant. However, it takes 80 wind plants to produce the same amount of energy as a nuke. Put it in a deep valley and it'll give you 1.79 §/MW-h - still more than any other clean plant. I've seen wind mills last 125+ years.

See also
Where to build your power plants
Power plants: which to build and which not to
Power plant output and costs
Realistic thoughts on power plants
The true cost of energy
Actual cost efficiency of power plants