By: Ronnel W. Domingo - 05:02 AM
January 16, 2018
The cost of electricity generation
from solar photovoltaic systems has fallen by 73 percent since 2010 and will
decline further by half by 2020, according to the International Renewable
Energy Agency (Irena).
The Abu Dhabi-based Irena said in a
statement that the cost of electricity from onshore wind power projects had
also gone down by 25 percent since 2010.
“The best onshore wind and solar PV
projects could be delivering electricity for an equivalent of ($0.03) per
kilowatt-hour [about P1.50 a kwh] or less within the next two years,” said the
agency, which counts the Philippines among its members.
Currently, the new benchmark price
for solar power was observed in Abu Dhabi, Chile, Dubai, Mexico, Peru and Saudi
Arabia.
In the Philippines, power from solar
panels so far carries a generation charge of as low as P2.99 a kWh through the
Solar Philippines group.
In a report released during Irena’s
assembly held in Abu Dhabi last week, the agency said that by 2020, all
currently commercialized renewable power generation technologies would be
competing with—and even undercutting—fossil fuels by generating in the range $0.03
to $0.10 a kWh.
In comparison, the cost of power
generated from fossil fuel ranges from $0.05 to $0.17 a kWh.
“This new dynamic signals a
significant shift in the energy paradigm,” Irena director general Adnan Z. Amin
said in a statement. “These cost declines across technologies are unprecedented
and representative of the degree to which renewable energy is disrupting the
global energy system.”
He said competitive procurement
practices—along with the emergence of a large base of experienced medium-to-large
project developers competing for global market opportunities—were driving down
the cost of renewable energy.
“Turning to renewables for new power
generation is not simply an environmentally conscious decision, it is
now—overwhelmingly—a smart economic one,” Amin said.
“We expect the transition to gather
further momentum, supporting jobs, growth, improved health, national resilience
and climate mitigation around the world in 2018 and beyond,” he said.
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