WORLD’S NEW ENERGY COSTS FALLING

Renewable power costs continue to fall

18 November 2012 (International Renewable Energy Agency)

“Renewable energy has become the most cost-effective way to generate electric power for hundreds of millions of people worldwide who are not on the grid, a new IRENA policy brief reveals. Renewable energy has also become the least-cost option for extending grid supply in areas with suitable resources, such as sun and wind.

“The findings [of Renewable Power Generation Costs] serve as a wake-up call to policy-makers on the declining cost of renewables…Biomass power generation has become competitive wherever low-cost agricultural or forestry waste is available, with the most competitive projects producing electricity for as little as USD 0.06/kWh…Concentrating solar power, in which mirrors focus light over a large area into a central generator, has seen costs drop to as little as USD 0.14/kWh.”

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“Hydropower, currently the world’s largest source of renewable energy, today often provides the lowest cost electricity of any generation source…Solar photovoltaics (PV), which has seen rapid development over the past two years, is set to achieve grid parity with residential electricity tariffs in many locations around the world. PV costs typically range from USD 0.16 to 0.36/kWh.

“The most competitive onshore wind power sites can deliver electricity costs at as little as USD 0.04/kWh…By way of comparison, electricity generated from fossil fuel typically costs between USD 0.06 and 0.12/kWh in OECD countries – excluding the cost of transmission and distribution…”

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