The report based its analysis on what’s known as the “levelised cost of electricity”, which takes into account several factors such as interest rates, capital expenditures, and the operating costs of facilities, and uses these to compare different energy sources on a dollar value. As the production costs of coal, gas, and nuclear power keep rising and those of wind and solar falling, it’s blindingly obvious that the United Kingdom government are backing the wrong horses.
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“Renewables are really becoming cost-competitive and they’re competing more directly with fossil fuels”, BNEF analyst Luke Mills told Bloomberg. In the Americas, it increased from $66 per Mwh to $75, from $68 to $73 in Asia-Pacific, and from $82 to $105 in Europe.
Seb Henbest, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said this was “helped by cheaper technology but also by lower finance costs”. The LCOE for combined-cycle gas turbine generation rose from $76 to $82 in the Americas, from $85 to $93 in Asia-Pacific and from $103 to $118 in EMEA.
Overall the power generated by Scottish wind turbines in September was equivalent to 28% of Scotland’s entire electricity demand, including homes, business and industry, for the month.
The positive picture for renewable power in Britain is mirrored across the world with wind and solar technologies fast falling in price while fossil fuel costs continue to move upwards. Wind, in contrast, cost $77 and solar photovoltaics, $109.
The SNP have today welcomed new statistics highlighting the strength of the country’s renewable energy sector for the month of September, despite the lack of support from the United Kingdom government. Fossil fuel technologies have been increasing in cost, partly due to new estimates on likely higher future carbon prices.
BNEF found that the globalised LCOE for solar fell from US$129 to US$122 per megawatt hour in the first half of 2015, while for onshore wind that figure went from US$85 to US$82.
Wind power is now comparable in price to fossil fuels, and solar is well on its way, according to a new report that confirms earlier predictions that renewables aren’t just the best option for the environment – they’re unequivocally the smartest long-term investment you can make on energy. There are costs related to staff and maintenance, but the actual generation of the electricity comes from free natural forces. The plan could be announced before the climate talks in Paris in December.
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Still, given documented trends, “it’s impossible to brush aside renewables in the U.S.in the same way it might have been just a few years ago”, writes Bloomberg’s Tom Randall.
