India Avoided $14.9 bn Fossil Fuel Costs in 2024 with Renewables
Considering the total renewable capacity currently in operation, fossil fuel costs totalling $467 billion was avoided globally in 2024
Chennai: India avoided $14.9 billion in fossil fuel costs with its renewable energy capacity in 2024. While solar, wind and bio-energy costs continued to come down in 2024, cost of solar energy in India has dropped 91 pc from 2010-levels and in 2024 it remained below the world average.
Considering the total renewable capacity currently in operation, fossil fuel costs totalling $467 billion was avoided globally in 2024. In 2024 alone, the addition of 585 GW of new renewable power capacity avoided fossil fuel use worth $57 billion – the equivalent to the entire gross domestic product (GDP) of a country such as Armenia or Mongolia, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
India avoided $14.9 billion in fossil fuel costs and 410.9 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions, while receiving $31.7 billion in air pollution-related benefits in 2024.
From 2022 to 2024, the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for renewables declined globally, though regional disparities remain stark. China and India consistently recorded the lowest costs across technologies.
In 2024, new utility-scale onshore wind projects remained the cheapest source of renewable electricity, with a global weighted average LCOE of $0.034/per kilowatt hour (kWh), followed by new solar photovoltaic (PV) at $0.043/kWh and new hydropower at $0.057 kWh. Meanwhile, the global average LCOE of coal power was $0.073/kWh.
For solar PV, China and India reported below-average LCOEs. In 2024, India had the second most competitive LCOE, at USD 0.038/kWh. This represented a 10 per cent year-on-year decline and a 91 per cent decrease between 2010 and 2024.
LCOE of solar PV came down from $0.042 kwh in 2023 to $0.038 kwh in 2024. LCOE of onshore wind was 0.048 kwh. Bioenergy’s LCOE ranged from USD 0.065/kWh in India.
Total Installed Cost (TIC) of renewables also have been coming down in India. The TIC of solar PV in India came down from $728 per kw in 2023 to $525 kw in 2024. TIC of onshore wind energy was down from $1237 per kw in 2023 to $1110 kw in 2024.
