| Work Detail |
New wind and solar developments already undercutting coal and gas plants, report claims The cost of clean power technologies such as wind, solar and battery technologies is expected to fall by a further 2-11% this year, breaking 2024’s record, a new report claims. According to the report by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF), new wind and solar farms are already undercutting new coal and gas plants on production cost in almost every market globally. Meanwhile, China’s clean technology manufacturing overcapacity has led to rising protectionism in the form of import tariffs by countries to avoid cheap imports upending their own energy markets. Trade barriers could temporarily stall cost declines, but BNEF still expects the levelised cost of electricity for clean technologies to fall 22-49% by 2035. BNEF’s levelised cost of electricity report indicates that the global benchmark cost for battery storage projects fell by a third in 2024 to $104 per megawatt-hour (MWh), as a glut in supply due to slower electric vehicle sales led to cheaper prices for battery packs. Meanwhile, the cost of a typical fixed-axis solar farm fell by 21% globally last year. Modules were sold at or below the cost of production, with no signs of the overcapacity in the solar supply chain easing in 2025. Batteries will cross the $100/MWh watershed in 2025, while global benchmarks for wind and solar generation are also set to fall 4% and 2%, respectively. Lead author of the report Amar Vasdev said: “New solar plants, even without subsidies, are within touching distance of new US gas plants. “This is remarkable because US gas prices are only a quarter of prevailing gas prices in Europe and Asia. “It really raises the bar on what is possible even in the current market. “This opens up the likelihood that solar will become even more compelling in the coming years, especially if the US starts exporting liquified natural gas and exposes its protected gas market to global price competition.” |
