BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 2
Trend:
Renewable power is increasingly cheaper than any new electricity capacity based on fossil fuels as more than half of the renewable capacity added in 2019 achieved lower power costs than the cheapest new coal plants, Trend reports with reference to the Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019 report of Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
The report highlights that new renewable power generation projects now increasingly undercut existing coal-fired plants.
“On average, new solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind power cost less than keeping many existing coal plants in operation, and auction results show this trend accelerating – reinforcing the case to phase-out coal entirely. Next year, up to 1,200 gigawatts (GW) of existing coal capacity could cost more to operate than the cost of new utility-scale solar PV,” the report said.
Replacing the costliest 500 GW of coal with solar PV and onshore wind next year would cut power system costs by up to $23 billion every year and reduce annual emissions by around 1.8 gigatons (Gt) of carbon dioxide (CO2), equivalent to 5 percent of total global CO2 emissions in 2019. It would also yield an investment stimulus of $940 billion, which is equal to around 1 percent of global GDP.
“Renewable energy is increasingly the cheapest source of new electricity, offering tremendous potential to stimulate the global economy and get people back to work. Renewable investments are stable, cost-effective and attractive offering consistent and predictable returns while delivering benefits to the wider economy,” said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA.
The report said that the renewable electricity costs have fallen sharply over the past decade, driven by improving technologies, economies of scale, increasingly competitive supply chains and growing developer experience.
“Since 2010, utility-scale solar PV power has shown the sharpest cost decline at 82 percent, followed by concentrating solar power (CSP) at 47 percent, onshore wind at 39 percent and offshore wind at 29 percent,” the report said.
The report noted that costs for solar and wind power technologies also continued to fall year-on-year. Thus, electricity costs from utility-scale solar PV fell 13 percent in 2019, reaching a global average of 6.8 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Onshore and offshore wind both declined about 9 percent, reaching 5.3 cents per kWh and 11.5 cents per kWh, respectively.
“Recent auctions and power purchase agreements (PPAs) show the downward trend continuing for new projects are commissioned in 2020 and beyond. Solar PV prices based on competitive procurement could average 3.9 cents per kWh for projects commissioned in 2021, down 42 percent compared to 2019 and more than one-fifth less than the cheapest fossil-fuel competitor namely coal-fired plants.
Record-low auction prices for solar PV in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (UAE), Chile, Ethiopia, Mexico, Peru and Saudi Arabia confirm that values as low as $0.03 per kWh are already possible,” the IRENA report said.
The report also noted that the same amount of money invested in renewable power today produces more new capacity than it would have a decade ago.
“In 2019, twice as much renewable power generation capacity was commissioned than in 2010 but required only 18 percent more investment,” the report said.