According to an article by David Worford in Environmental + Energy Leader, capital costs of solar and wind generation have risen over the past 12-months.  Data obtained by Bloomberg indicate a 14 percent cost increase for fixed-access solar to approximately $45 per megawatt-hour.  The cost of onshore wind generation rose seven percent to $46 per megawatt-hour during the first half of 2022.  Notwithstanding the increase, the capital costs of solar and wind are respectively 86 percent and 46 percent lower than in 2010, based on technical advances and economies of scale.  Currently, demand for alternative energy generation exceeds available supply.

Battery storage is up 8.4 percent over the past year, at $153 per megawatt-hour.  This is due primarily to the increase in cost of lithium carbonate that has risen fourfold in a year.

Bloomberg estimates that capital costs for alternative energy projects are lower than fossil-fuel powered plants with coal generation at $74 per megawatt-hour and natural gas at $81 per megawatt-hour.

Amar Vasdev, a co-author of the Bloomberg report, anticipates that advances in technology and renewed production of solar panels by China will reduce costs of generating power from other than fossil fuels.