Energy & Science

Solar and Wind Cheapest Sources of Power in Most of the World

  • Batteries also gaining against traditional energy sources
  • Most competitive new power is wind in U.S., solar in China

Prices are even lower in countries including the U.S., China and Brazil.

Photographer: Adriano Machado/Bloomberg

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Solar and onshore wind power are now the cheapest new sources of electricity in at least two-thirds of the world’s population, further threatening the two fossil-fuel stalwarts -- coal and natural gas.

The levelized cost of electricity for onshore wind projects has fallen 9% to $44 a megawatt-hour since the second half of last year. Solar declined 4% to $50 a megawatt-hour, according to a report Tuesday by BloombergNEF.