Falling renewable energy costs provide wake-up call to policy makers

Tuesday, Jan 15, 2013

Renewable energy has entered into a new virtuous cycle of falling costs, increasing deployment, and accelerated technological progress, a ground-breaking report by the International Renewable Energy Agency has found.

“The past two years have seen a remarkable increase in the competitiveness of renewable energy”

The cost of solar energy, for example, has dropped below the cost of diesel generation worldwide for communities living away from the electricity grid.

The public debate around renewable energy, however, continues to suffer from an outdated perception that renewable energy is not competitive, forming a significant and unnecessary barrier to its deployment.

Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2012: An Overview, launched during the IRENA annual Assembly and at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, is the most current, comprehensive analysis of the costs and performance of renewable power generation today. It can be found on www.irena.org.

Its analysis of 8000 medium- to large-scale renewable power generation projects reveals that renewables are fast becoming the most competitive option for new electricity grid supply and swift grid extension, and are already the default economic solution for off-grid power supply.

Source: Business Wire