WORLD ENERGY HITS A TURNING POINT: SOLAR THAT'S CHEAPER THAN WINDÂ
A transformation is happening in global energy markets that are worth noting as 2016 comes to an end: Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the cheapest form of new electricity.
BLOOMBERG — This has happened in isolated projects in the past, but now unsubsidized solar is beginning to outcompete coal and natural gas on a larger scale, and notably, new solar projects in emerging markets are costing less to build than wind projects, according to fresh data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The chart shows the average cost of new wind and solar from 58 emerging-market economies, including China, India, and Brazil. While solar was bound to fall below wind eventually, given its steeper price declines, few predicted it would happen this soon.
