Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Green
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.

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

Photographer: Adriano Machado/Bloomberg

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.