Solar, wind power costs drop as fossil fuel costs rise: IEA

Paris

THE cost of producing electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind has dropped significantly during the past five years, while power generated from natural gas, coal and nuclear has risen, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). "The cost of renewable technologies - in particular solar photovoltaic - have declined significantly over the past five years," the Paris-based IEA said in a report called Projected Costs of Generating Electricity.

The median cost of producing so-called baseload power that is available all the time from gas, coal and nuclear reactors was about US$100 a megawatt hour for 2015 compared with about US$200 a megawatt hour for solar, which has dropped from US$500 a megawatt hour in 2010. The findings come as more than 190 nations intend to broker a new climate agreement in Paris in December to limit future fossil-fuel emissions. Power generation from fossil fuels including coal is one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions and so decisions about how to produce electricity will play a key role in curbing climate-altering gases. The median costs of power generation from natural gas and coal rose over the five-year period, the agency said.