Falling costs for renewable energies – Image: Andrey_Popov|Shutterstock.com
The world is still far from meeting its entire electricity demand with renewable energy, but figures published by Our World in Data show that things are moving in the right direction, at least in terms of cost.
In 2010, generating one megawatt-hour of electricity from photovoltaics cost an average of $378 worldwide. This figure excludes any subsidies that may have been available in some areas. By 2019, this cost had fallen to just $68—cheaper than nuclear and coal power, and only slightly behind the most economical option considered in this chart: onshore wind power. Wind power, both onshore and offshore, has also seen a decrease in cost since 2010, while the more established methods of nuclear and coal power have either become more expensive or experienced only a slight decline.
As described by Our World in Data , this price difference is crucial for the increased and rapid adoption of renewable energy sources in the future, and the effects are already visible: “It is the relative price that determines which type of power plant is built. Has the price drop in renewable energy influenced the decisions of power plant builders in recent years? Yes, it has. Wind and solar power have expanded rapidly in recent years; in 2019, renewable energy accounted for 72 percent of global new capacity.”
The falling costs of renewable energies – Image: Statista
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