Renewables, the cost of which is steadily falling, are becoming increasingly competitive with fossil fuels as gas and oil prices soar, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published on Wednesday 13 July.
"Today, renewable energies are undoubtedly the cheapest form of energy", assures Francesco La Camera, director general of IRENA, in a press release.
“Renewable energy frees economies from volatility in fossil fuel prices and imports, lowers energy costs and builds market resilience, all the more so if the current energy crisis continues,” says he still.
According to IRENA, the cost of producing renewable energies has fallen further: in 2021, the cost of electricity produced by wind turbines has lost 15%, 13% for offshore wind turbines and that of photovoltaics has fallen by 13%, compared to 2020.
On the other hand, the price of fossil fuels is rising, especially since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia being a major producer of hydrocarbons. Oil prices have taken around 32% since the start of the year and that of European natural gas has multiplied by 2,5.
“The European example shows that fuel and CO2 costs for existing gas-fired power plants could be on average four to six times higher in 2022 than the life cycle cost of new solar PV and onshore wind installations commissioned. in 2021," the organization said.
In this context of soaring fossil fuel prices, “renewable energy installed in 2021 will save around $55 billion in global energy production costs in 2022,” IRENA estimates.
A few months before COP27 in Egypt, the Director General of IRENA also recalls that renewable energies are for States "an affordable way to get closer to the net zero emissions objective and to convert their climate promises into concrete actions" .
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated in a report published in May 2021 that oil and gas exploration projects should be abandoned now to hope to limit global warming to 1,5°C.
