The world added 473 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity last year, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency, and four-fifths of it produces power more cheaply than fossil fuels do.
The added capacity, roughly equivalent to 473 nuclear plants, produces electricity at prices most fossil plants can’t match and that the nuclear industry can only dream of: The global average cost of electricity from onshore wind fell to 3.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, 3 percent less than the year before, and utility-scale solar photovoltaic fell to 4.4 cents/kWh, 12% less than the year before.
Fossil-fuel prices rose in 2023 to 10 cents/kWh, according to IRENA’s report, which largely ignores nuclear power (new nuclear has been estimated to cost as much as 25-30 cents/kWh).
“The world is embracing the transition away from fossil fuels,” IRENA Director General Francesco La Camera writes, aided by the continuing decline in technology costs.
“The rising competitiveness of renewables in comparison to fossil fuels is driving extensive deployment of (renewables),” the report states. The period from 2010 to 2023 saw a “seismic shift” away from fossil and nuclear in favor of renewables, it says, a trend expected to continue as countries strive to fulfill the pledge, agreed at COP28, to triple renewable-energy capacity by 2030.
“In the next few years of this decade, an extensive deployment of renewable power generation in more countries and regions is therefore expected. As the electricity system evolves, innovative technologies are also being introduced to facilitate the transition from a fossil fuel-based system to a renewable one.”
For renewables to compete with fossil fuels and nuclear, storage is vital to provide power during renewable downtimes.
“With a growing share of variable renewable power generation, energy storage will play a crucial role in ensuring the successful delivery of electricity during supply-demand shortfalls,” the report states, updating battery-storage costs and capacity with good news as well.
Battery Highlights Of The Report
• Battery storage has grown from 0.1 GWh gross capacity added in 2010 to 95.9 GWh gross capacity added in 2023.
• From 2010 and 2023, the costs of battery storage projects declined 89% thanks to improved materials efficiency, improved manufacturing processes and economies of scale.
• China is leading the world in new additions of battery storage, with 46.5 GWh of new capacity installed in 2023, accounting for nearly half of global additions.
China’s Muscle
“China represented the largest market for solar PV (63%), onshore wind (66%), offshore wind (65%) and hydropower (44%) in 2023,” the report states, “due to the country’s substantial renewable additions in 2023, which drove the decline in the global weighted average costs for these technologies.”
China lays claim to some of the largest solar development projects, including the still-developing Tengger Desert New Energy Base, which reportedly has already delivered more than 2 billion kWh of electricity to neighboring provinces.
IRENA estimates that power companies and their customers saved $409 billion in fuel costs from 2000 to 2023 thanks to renewables.
