New analysis shows it’s 50% cheaper to generate electricity from renewables
31st July 2021 | Commercial Energy
According to new analysis from energy think tank Ember, the cost of generating electricity from power plants using fossil fuels is around double what it costs to produce it from renewable sources. Ember’s findings, as reported in Yahoo! News, have arrived with the publication of their mid-year analysis of the energy sector. The data presented examined electricity production in 27 major EU nations across the first six months of the year and compared it to the same period in 2020, and in 2019 before the pandemic.
The think tank believes that the reasons why electricity production from wind and solar is about 50% cheaper than fossil fuels stems from the continually rising cost of coal. In addition, the now increasing demand for electricity has also had an impact as Covid restrictions have eased around the world.
Other notable findings from the research include how electricity use Europe-wide is now ‘back to pre-pandemic levels’, but the ‘consistent growth’ of renewables is significantly outpacing that of fossil fuels. When compared to the first half of 2019, coal generation was 16% lower, while clean energy use has also been shown to have increased in the first half of the year – as it now provides two-thirds of power to the 27 EU countries Ember analysed.
However, despite the encouraging data that suggests a big shift towards further production of renewables, Charles Moore, Ember’s Europe lead, has still called for more to be done to ‘reduce reliance on fossil fuels for energy’ and reduce emissions. Speaking on the matter, Charles Moore said: “There’s never been a better time to accelerate the transition to wind and solar with the costs of sticking with fossil fuels painfully clear. There’s a clear consensus: it is no longer credible for rich nations to target net zero by 2050 without near-term plans to secure 100 per cent clean power by 2035.”
Mr Moore added: “With all eyes on the UK as it hosts the critical COP26 climate conference, the UK should make this commitment and join Biden to catalyse a new high ambition coalition on clean power.”
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