24/7 renewables reshape global energy debate as storage costs fall

The long-standing argument that renewable energy cannot provide reliable electricity around the clock is beginning to weaken as falling battery costs and hybrid energy systems reshape the economics of power generation.
A new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), titled “24/7 Renewables: The Economics of Firm Solar and Wind”, argues that solar and wind energy combined with battery storage can now deliver stable, continuous electricity at costs increasingly competitive with fossil fuels in high-resource regions.
The report marks an important shift in the global energy conversation. For years, renewable energy critics pointed to intermittency as one of the sector’s biggest weaknesses, arguing that solar and wind could not replace conventional baseload power because they depend on weather conditions and daylight hours. IRENA now says advances in battery storage, hybrid system design and falling technology costs are rapidly changing that equation.
According to the report, utility-scale solar and battery systems in strong solar regions can now provide firm electricity at costs ranging between $54 and $82 per megawatt-hour, compared to significantly higher costs for new gas-fired power generation in many markets.
Battery storage has played a major role in this shift. Since 2010, solar photovoltaic costs have fallen by around 87%, while battery storage costs have declined by approximately 93%, allowing developers to store excess renewable electricity and release it during periods of low generation or peak demand.
The report also points to growing demand from industries requiring uninterrupted electricity, including artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and data centres. These sectors increasingly require stable power supplies that traditional solar or wind projects alone could not guarantee in the past.
For Oman, the findings arrive at a particularly relevant moment.
The Sultanate of Oman has been steadily expanding its renewable energy ambitions through large-scale solar projects, green hydrogen plans and new energy storage initiatives linked to Oman Vision 2040 and industrial diversification goals. Oman’s strong solar irradiation levels and growing investment in clean energy infrastructure position the country favourably within the emerging economics described in the IRENA report.
Earlier this year, Oman moved to strengthen its energy storage strategy through collaboration between IRENA and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, focusing on battery storage systems and grid flexibility.
At the same time, the country is beginning to move beyond standalone renewable projects towards integrated systems capable of delivering more stable electricity supplies. One of the clearest examples is the Ibri III solar project, which combines 500 MW of solar capacity with battery energy storage and is widely seen as Oman’s first utility-scale solar-plus-storage development.
Nama Power and Water Procurement Company is also preparing procurement plans for Oman’s first large-scale round-the-clock renewable energy project, expected to combine solar, wind and battery storage technologies to deliver approximately 2.7 GW of stable clean electricity.
These developments reflect a wider global transition in which renewable energy is no longer viewed only as supplemental generation, but increasingly as infrastructure capable of supporting industrial-scale reliability.
The IRENA report notes that future competitiveness will depend not only on generating clean electricity cheaply, but on delivering it consistently and reliably. In regions with strong solar and wind resources, hybrid renewable systems are increasingly becoming a strategic energy advantage rather than simply an environmental initiative.