Solar and wind will be cheapest form of electricity in Asia

CleanTechnica

A new study has found that renewable energy systems will prove to be the most economically viable in the future, specifying that solar and wind will prove the cheapest forms of energy production for Asia’s largest energy markets by the end of the next ten years.

The study, conducted by the Lappeenranta University of Technology, shows that North-East Asia and China will particularly benefit from switching entirely to renewable energy systems over the next 5 to 10 years.

Specifically, the price of solar electricity is set to drop by half by 2025 to 2030.

“Further development of the North-East Asian energy system is at a crossroads due to severe limitations of the current conventional energy based system,” write the authors of the report.

The authors conclude that for North-East Asia, “the excellent solar resources of the Gobi Desert could be utilized for load centres in China, Korea, and Japan as a contribution to the energy transformation ahead.”

The report presents a “spatially and hourly resolved energy system model” that shows how 100% renewable energy could work in the region, interconnected by a high voltage transmission grid.

“Economic viability” has long been an issue in the minds of those looking to transition Asian regions to renewable energy. It has only been over the past 18 months that solar and wind have started measuring comparably with traditional energy generation methods — but the good news is that many believe the economic viability of solar and wind will continue to increase, past where traditional generation techniques sit. According to Lappeenranta University of Technology, their research shows that sun and wind will become viable sources within 5 to 10 years, because “costs fall by 20% every time capacity is doubled.”

“This means, for example, that the price of solar electricity will be halved by 2025–2030. This will make them the cheapest forms of production for most of the world,” says Pasi Vainikka, Principal Scientist and LUT Adjunct Professor.

Source: CleanTechnica. Reproduced with permission.