Wood Mackenzie says the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) in the Asia-Pacific region hit an all-time low in 2023, as utility-scale PV beat coal to become the cheapest power source. It predicts a further drop in costs for new-build solar projects, driven by falling module prices and oversupply from China.
A new report by Lazard compares the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for various generation technologies on a $/MWh basis. It shows that utility-scale solar and onshore wind LCOE increased for the first time in 2023, at $24/MWh to $96/MWh for solar and $24/MWh to $75 MWh for wind. Nevertheless, the two renewable sources are still the economic frontrunners when compared to nuclear, gas, and coal.
The latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report indicates the stagnation of the sector continues. Just 2.4 GW of net new nuclear generation capacity came online last year, compared to 98 GW of solar. The world’s operational nuclear power capacity had declined by 2.1%, to 362 GW, at the end of June.
A nation famous for high electricity prices has seen power costs fall 15% this year, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie, a figure which will help attract $100 billion of solar and wind investment to 2030. Renewables will have to work even harder, however, to displace fossil fuels in hydrogen production.
The Chinese giant has leapt ahead of rivals who recently announced their intent to work towards the next generation of mega panels by pledging to have its 600 W Vertex product on sale by the end of March.
The levelized cost of energy generated by large scale solar plants is around $0.068/kWh, compared to $0.378 ten years ago and the price fell 13.1% between 2018 and last year alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
The solar learning curve usually applied to panel costs has been extrapolated to the larger, non-module element of the price of solar electricity generated by big projects, leading one commentator to predict new solar projects could be cheaper than legacy fossil fuel plants within 10-15 years in certain markets.
The winners of the 2019 pv magazine awards have been recognized in a ceremony alongside the World Future Energy Summit. The victors spoke of the importance of innovation being recognized within the industry.
A group of scientists is proposing a new metric – the value of efficiency – to calculate the maximum allowable cost to increase a cell’s efficiency and improve the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The researchers expect that more regional diversification may be seen at the global level in the years to come, with the proposed metric offering higher values in North America, Central and Northern Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
The cost of solar power generation in India has fallen to half the level seen in many other markets in the region due to extensive solar resource, market scale and competition.
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