24\/7 renewable power optimises the use of constrained grid connections, shifts electricity production to higher-value hours and reduces exposure to price volatility. These hybrid solutions are well positioned to serve the most demanding electricity users, including artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres that require uninterrupted supply as one of the key commercial benchmarks. Firm renewables also enable the production of clean fuels for hard-to-abate sectors, where economic viability depends not only on costs but also on the ability to operate at high utilisation rates. <\/p>\n
IRENA\u2019s analysis shows that firm costs have declined rapidly, driven by falling costs for solar PV, wind power and battery storage. Since 2010, total installed costs declined by 87% for solar PV and by 55% for onshore wind. Battery storage costs fell even more sharply, declining by 93%.<\/p>\n
Construction timelines are also shortening with projects typically being built within one to two years of securing permits and grid connection, well ahead of new gas-fired alternatives in most markets.<\/p>\n
Continued technology learning, manufacturing scale and supply chain integration are expected to drive further cost reductions across all three technologies. As costs fall simultaneously across solar, wind and batteries, their combined effect on hybrid systems is already significant.<\/p>\n
IRENA analysis of solar-plus-battery configurations across multiple countries shows that firm costs have fallen from above USD 100 per MWh in 2020 to around USD 54-82 per MWh by 2025 at high-irradiance solar regions and strong wind corridors. <\/p>\n
Further cost reductions of roughly 30% by 2030 and around 40% by 2035 are projected, bringing firm costs below USD 50 per MWh at the best-performing sites by 2035. The United Arab Emirates’ Al Dhafra complex for example, that pairs solar PV with battery storage, already illustrates what this means in practice: delivering a firm 1 gigawatt of clean electricity at around USD 70 per MWh.<\/p>\n
Firm wind\u2011plus\u2011storage systems are also becoming increasingly competitive. IRENA\u2019s estimates for 2025 show that firm wind-plus-storage costs ranged from around USD 59 per MWh in Inner Mongolia to around USD 88-94 per MWh across Brazil, Germany, and Australia, with costs projected to fall to roughly USD 49-75 per MWh across these markets by 2030. <\/p>\n
Costs decline further when wind is combined with solar PV, leveraging complementary generation profiles to reduce storage requirements and overall system cost.<\/p>\n