Very big price declines in renewables

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Plunging prices for batteries and renewables are driving an electric vehicle (EV) revolution so rapidly that the economics of oil “are now in relentless and irreversible decline.” That’s the startling conclusion of a detailed new analysis for “professional investors” of the economics of EVs versus gasoline cars produced by BNP Paribas, the world’s eighth largest bank by total assets.

The report is good news for humanity because it means peak oil demand may be less than a decade away, which in turn means ambitious climate goals will be more affordable than previously thought. But the bank’s analysis, “Wells, Wires and Wheels,” is devastating for Big Oil. It concludes that “the oil industry has never before in its history faced the kind of threat that renewable electricity in tandem with EVs poses to its business model.”

One of the world’s largest banks thinks the writing is on the wall for the oil industry – ThinkProgress

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One of the biggest U.S. solar stories of the summer was developer 8minute’s pricing record of $19.97 per megawatt-hour for a Los Angeles project. The project, which looks set to go ahead following initial union resistance, remains a relatively rare public example of sub-$25 per megawatt-hour pricing in the U.S. market. Elsewhere, however, developers have already been bidding under $25 for several years. Here are eight other countries where the $25-per-megawatt-hour barrier has tumbled, as tracked by the Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables solar analysis team.

8 Countries (Besides the US) With Solar Under $25 per Megawatt-Hour | Greentech Media

The U.K.’s offshore wind auctions have driven prices so low that developers could prefer to go merchant rather than take part in the next round two years from now, according to a Wood Mackenzie analyst. Results of the third round of the program, announced Friday morning, awarded 5.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, with prices bottoming out at £39.65 ($50.05) per megawatt-hour. The previous round in 2017 yielded offshore wind prices of £57.50, so Friday's results represent a substantial decline. The biggest winners (PDF) included SSE, Equinor and Innogy.

UK's Offshore Wind Auction So Successful It Might Have Made Itself Redundant | Greentech Media

The transformation of the U.S.’ power sector is coming much sooner than incumbent producers were expecting. Currently, the combination of solar, wind, storage, and demand response are already more efficient, and therefore cheaper, than the use of fossil fuels.

Natural Gas Could Be Replaced Within 15 Years