Rapid Fall in Costs of Renewable Energy

Although all forms of renewable energy have become more competitive, the price of onshore wind and solar photovoltaic-generated power have both fallen below five US cents per kilowatt hour for the first time, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says. Solar photovolaics has tumbled from nearly 8 times that figure just 10 years ago, while onshore wind has fallen steadily from nearly 9 cents per kilowatt hour in 2010.

Fossil fuel-fired power generation is estimated to cost between 5 and 18 cents per kilowatt hour, according to IRENA.

In April 2019, the United States generated more electricity from renewables than from coal for the first time. In the same month, the UKwent for 18 days without using any coal to generate electricity.

IRENA says $23 billion could be wiped off the world’s energy bills if the costliest 500 gigawatts of coal-generating plant was replaced by solar and wind power. While switching generation from fossil fuels to renewables would reduce global CO2 emissions by 5%, it says. Reasons to use coal to generate electricity are evaporating as renewables provide power more cheaply in the majority of cases, says IRENA. Over half of new renewable installations delivered generating costs that were lower than the cheapest comparable new coal-fired plant.

Three factors that mean renewables will continue to grow: public environmental concerns; falling renewable energy costs; and the fact the technologies are now available to make the renewable energy revolution happen.

Hopefully, Malaysia will be more aggressive in implementing renewable energy installations.

Reference:

5 charts show the rapid fall in costs of renewable energy, Douglas Broom, Nov 16, 2020 (https://energypost.eu)