According to a BloombergNEF analysis released on June 30, 2022, global supply chain issues, such as cost increases in materials, freight, fuel, and labor, caused price increases for onshore wind and solar power in the last year.[1] The research firm found that the cost of onshore wind has risen 7% year on year while fixed-axis solar has risen 14%. The global levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) has temporarily gone back to where it was in 2019. The firm estimates that the global LCOE for utility-scale PV and onshore wind rose to $45/MWh and $46/MWh, respectively, in the first half of 2022. Battery storage also saw a cost increase of 8.4% year on year due to surging lithium carbonate prices.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have both affected costs. Although demand for low-carbon technologies bounced back in the second half of 2021, supply has struggled to keep up. Analysts found that despite the temporary cost increase, the gap between the cost of renewables and fossil energy continues to widen. New onshore wind and solar projects are about 40% lower than new-build coal- and gas-fired power.

[1] https://about.bnef.com/blog/cost-of-new-renewables-temporarily-rises-as-inflation-starts-to-bite/