Renewable energy will soon overtake coal-based generation, which is rapidly falling throughout the coronavirus pandemic, according to GlobalData analysts.
A recent report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on the progress of renewable energy over the last decade shows 176GW of renewable generation was added to global grids last year. This included 97GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) power, 54GW of onshore wind power, 12GW of hydroelectric power, 6GW of bioenergy and 5GW of offshore wind.
Excluding bioenergy, the agency estimates relative to global capacity, the fastest cost reduction since 2010 has come from PV solar power. However, the sharpest fall in recent years has come from concentrating solar power, which has fallen from more than $200/MWh in 2017 to around $70/MWh expected in 2021.
The cost of PV generation fell 82% between 2010 and 2019 from $378/MWh to $68/MWh. In the same period, global PV generation rose from 40GW to 580GW.
