The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has said that out of the $286 billion invested in renewable energy solutions last year, the wind power segment attracted the most of the investments with $109.6 billion.

It also said the cost of installing capacities such as solar PV and wind turbines were dropping fast that by 2025 it may have dropped by 59 and 35 per cents respectively.

IRENA explained that such low costs are already translating into record low energy bids, with bids for a new 800MW solar PV project in the UAE coming in as low as 2.99 cents/kWh.

“The global transition to a sustainable energy system is well underway and renewables are at the centre stage of it,” said IRENA Director-General, Adnan Amin at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul.

Amin added: “We must accelerate this scale up – and the reality is that the business case for renewables is here today to make it happen,”

Organised by the World Energy Council and held every three years, the World Energy Congress is a gathering of more than 10,000 world leaders in the field of energy — representing industries, governments, international organizations, media, universities, and associations.

Amin highlighted the surging business case for renewable energy, saying recent growth trends in renewable energy underlined that $286 billion was invested in renewables last year with the wind power sector attracting a record $109.6 billion.

Since 2011, he said, more than half of capacity additions to the power sector have been from renewable sources.

He noted that IRENA has found that scaling up renewables to 36 per cent of the global energy mix by 2030, combined with increased energy efficiency, would save the world up to $4.2 trillion.