IRENA study sees rapidly increasing cost advantage of renewables in electricity production

According to a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the fossil fuel crisis has further accelerated the achievement of competitiveness for electricity generation from renewable resources. About 86 percent of new renewable energy plants installed worldwide last year thus operate at lower costs than fossil-fueled plants could.
According to the study, renewable energy plants installed from 2000 to 2022 will result in savings of $520 billion worldwide in 2022 from eliminated fuel costs. In non-OECD countries, new plants installed in 2022 alone are expected to result in lifetime fuel savings of $580 million.
According to IRENA, the weighted average cost of electricity from solar PV dropped 89 percent to 4.9 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour globally from 2010 to 2022, while onshore wind power saw a 69 percent drop to 3.3 U.S. cents. Solar and wind power were thus nearly one-third and nearly one-half, respectively, below the lowest-cost fossil option in 2022.
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