The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recently released a report titled Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2017. The report highlights the renewable energy cost analysis, cost metrics for renewable power generation technologies, new cost reduction drivers, among others.
The report was also based on reviews and comments of various industry experts and contributors from IRENA. In the report, the Director-General of IRENA, Adnan Amin, stated, “With rapidly falling renewable power generation costs, policymakers and investors need to confront the economic opportunities, as well as challenges, arising from a scale-up of renewable energy. Informed decision-making about the role of renewables in future electricity systems depends on reliable cost and performance data.”
Amin further said, “In this context, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has developed one of the most comprehensive datasets available on renewable power generation technology costs and performance. This detailed cost data confirms latest auction prices, showing renewables to be cost-competitive in a growing array of markets and conditions.”
Some of the key findings presented in the report include the following:
- * After years of steady cost decline for solar and wind technologies, renewable power is becoming an increasingly competitive way to meet new generation needs
- * For projects commissioned in 2017, electricity costs from renewable power generation have continued to fall
- * Continuous technological innovation remains a constant in the renewable power generation market.
- * Three key cost reduction drivers are becoming increasingly important:
- Technology improvements
- Competitive procurement
- A large base of experienced, internationally active project developers
- * Onshore wind is one of the most competitive sources of new generation capacity
- * Electricity from renewables will soon be consistently cheaper than most fossil fuels
“Renewable energy increasingly makes business sense for policymakers and investors. For this reason, renewables will continue driving the global energy transformation, while benefiting the environment and our collective future,” Amin concluded.
Check the full IRENA report here.
