Solar Power Costs Drop in 2021: IRENA’s New Report

The global solar power costs has continued to drop in the recent years.

Last year in 2021, average levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from solar power dropped by 13% last.

According to a report of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), it was possible as the “world's large-scale solar projects have a long lead in times and contractual clauses limiting cost increases.” It further stated that the result was a global solar electricity cost of $0.048/kWh.

Out of many countries, China posted the lowest solar LCOE at $0.034/kWh in 2021, the report mentioned. China is followed by India standing as the world's second cheapest solar power at $0.035/kWh. Vietnam had a solar LCOE of $0.046/kWh last year, it stated.

As per IRENA’s report, majority of the world's biggest markets witnessed their solar plant investment costs fall in 2021.

For this year, it has forecasted that “solar price rises bottled up last year are likely to feed into the market this year in the shape of 3% to 5% project cost increases – of $20 to $60 per kilowatt installed – in the world's 10 biggest solar markets. “

“It remains remarkable that more effort has not been made to accelerate renewable power generation deployment in 2022, over the past nine months,” the report mentioned.

Meanwhile, the report stated that the solar capacity added last year reduced power generation costs by around $11.3 billion.