The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is the standard metric for comparing generation costs across energy sources — it accounts for capital, fuel, and operating costs over a plant's lifetime, expressed as a cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh). On this basis, renewables have decisively undercut fossil fuels for new capacity in most major economies.
IRENA data shows that 91% of newly commissioned utility-scale renewable projects delivered electricity at a lower LCOE than the cheapest fossil fuel alternatives. Onshore wind comes in at approximately $0.034/kWh and utility-scale solar PV at roughly $0.043/kWh, while fossil fuel generation typically ranges from $0.08 to $0.17/kWh — making wind more than 50% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil option, according to Zero Carbon Analytics and Guinness Global Investors citing IRENA figures.
A narrow caveat applies: legacy fossil fuel plants with fully depreciated capital costs can have low marginal operating costs, which can affect short-run electricity market prices. However, for new capacity investment decisions — the relevant comparison for energy transition policy — renewables are the clear cost leader across most of the world's major economies, as confirmed by IRENA, BloombergNEF, and Lazard.