Bloomberg New Energy Finance, or BloombergNEF for short, has calculated that renewable energies have come down significantly in price since mid 2018, taking the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) , which specifies costs for the conversion of different energy forms into electricity, as the measured value.

According to BloombergNEF’s analyses, the LCOE for photovoltaics has fallen by 18% since mid 2018. This is primarily attributable to the change in photovoltaics policy in China, which led to a surge of modules on the market in Q3 2018, and consequently a fall in prices. At the start of 2019, the LCOE was therefore just US$ 57 per megawatt-hour. Wind energy has also become cheaper. Since mid 2018, costs for onshore wind have fallen by 10% to US$ 50 per megawatt-hour, while costs for offshore wind have tumbled by 24% to below US$ 100 per megawatt-hour.

The LCOE for photovoltaics, onshore wind, and offshore wind have therefore fallen by 84%, 49%, and 56% respectively since 2010. BloombergNEF also reports positive results for battery storage, for which the LCOE has dropped by 76% since 2012.