Wind plus storage just came in under new gas on IRENA’s round-the-clock cost test.
IRENA’s new May 2026 report, “24/7 renewables: The economics of firm solar and wind,” benchmarks firm levelised cost of electricity, the round the clock measure. It puts firm wind plus storage at around $59 per MWh in Inner Mongolia and $88 to $94 per MWh across Brazil, Germany and Australia in 2025, falling to roughly $49 to $75 per MWh across those markets by 2030. New coal in China sits at $70 to $85. New gas globally tops $100. Since 2010, installed costs are down 87 percent for solar PV and 55 percent for onshore wind, and battery costs are down 93 percent. For solar plus battery, IRENA projects firm costs falling roughly 30 percent by 2030 and 40 percent by 2035.
What to look for
The first commercial scale firm wind PPAs hitting investment grade. AI and hyperscale data centers shopping for 24/7 clean supply, a buyer group IRENA names directly. Storage durations stretching from four hours toward eight and beyond. We expect the spread between firm renewables and new gas to keep widening, even before carbon prices show up on the bill.
What it means for MENA
The example IRENA cites is already in the region. The UAE’s Al Dhafra complex pairs solar PV with battery storage and delivers a firm 1 GW of clean electricity at around $70 per MWh. IRENA also notes that combining wind with solar cuts storage needs and overall system cost, which is where MENA’s best wind corridors come in.
Over the next 18 months we will be watching which MENA utility signs the region’s first firm wind plus storage PPA. Our bet is that whoever moves first will set the price reference for the rest of the region.
