As of 2022, the marginal cost of new solar energy production was estimated to be a quarter of the marginal cost of existing gas plants in Europe. [18] And in the current energy crisis, wholesale electricity prices have been lower when EU power generation relied more on renewable energy than on gas.
[19] Not only, therefore, is a reallocation of production and consumption from fossil fuel energy to renewable energy necessary to reach the net-zero emission target. But the lower cost of renewable energy can also put downward pressure on overall energy prices.