New report provides insights into cost development and status of expansion.
The cost of expanding renewable energy has continued to fall over the past year. This is shown in a recent evaluation by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The so-called electricity production costs, i.e. the costs incurred for converting energy from another form of energy into electricity, fell by 13 percent in the solar energy sector compared with the previous year. For onshore wind energy, the figure was 15 percent.
This development is quite astonishing, as the raw materials required for construction, such as aluminum, steel and rare earths, have become much more expensive in some cases. IRENA points out that these costs may take some time to filter through. For Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA, it is clear that renewable energies are “by far the cheapest form of energy supply today.
In addition to an analysis of the cost development, the IRENA report also provides an overview of the status of the expansion of the various types of renewable energy, from onshore wind power to bioenergy.
Photo: iStock/Bene_A
