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Why batteries are changing the renewables debate

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · · 565 words · By Craig Saueurs
Economic Viability of Renewables Energy Transition Geopolitical Risk
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What to know about Economic Viability of Renewables

The cost of battery storage has dropped more than 90 per cent since 2010, bringing the cost of renewable energy down with it.

Claims checked 14
Techniques found 2
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left14%
Center86%
Right0%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The cost of battery storage has dropped more than 90 per cent since 2010, bringing the cost of renewable energy down with it.

Why it matters

Clean energy can provide reliable, around-the-clock electricity at prices that rival fossil fuels, as the war on Iran forces Europe to re-think its reliance.

Common ground

A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) found that when solar and wind power are combined with battery storage, they can already compete with new coal plants on cost.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Straw Man: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/2026/05/08/round-the-clock-renewables-new-report-says-c…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Straw Man 70% confidence
Misrepresenting an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing straw man helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 4
verified Verified 3
check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
info Single Source 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
info
Claim 1: “In regions with strong sunlight and wind resources, solar power paired with batteries now costs between about €50 and €75 per megawatt-hour”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the general trend of falling costs is verified, the specific price range of €50 to €75 per MWh for solar paired with batteries in high-resource regions is not explicitly confirmed in the provided evidence snippets, though it aligns with the context of the IRENA report mentioned in other claims.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — IN, In or in may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British Imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to ⁠1/36⁠ yard or ⁠1/12⁠ of a foot. Derived from the Roman un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United S…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killed_in_action
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 2: “A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) found that when solar and wind power are combined with battery storage, they can already compete with new coal plants on cost.”
VERIFIED
A web search result explicitly mentions a new IRENA report stating that wind and solar can now deliver continuous power and are often a bargain compared with fossil fuels, supporting the claim of cost-competitiveness.
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web search NEUTRAL — The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable …
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Renewable_Ener…
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web search NEUTRAL — The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation supporting countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future.
https://www.irena.org/
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Sources like wind and solar can now deliver continuous power, according to a new report. And, they’re often a bargain compared with fossil fuels.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/climate/irena-renewables-…
verified
Claim 3: “more than €88 globally for new gas power”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence mentions a natural gas plant cost of around $65 per MWh in one source, but does not confirm the specific global figure of more than €88 per MWh.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 4: “By 2035, some large-scale solar-and-battery projects could deliver continuous electricity for less than €45 per megawatt-hour in the best-performing regions.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 5: “Advocacy group Positive Money recently found that renewables helped cut electricity prices in some European countries by almost 25 per cent between 2023 and 2025.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the search results to support the claim regarding Positive Money and electricity price cuts between 2023 and 2025.
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Claim 6: “The cost of battery storage has dropped more than 90 per cent since 2010”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results, including a LinkedIn post citing IRENA and a news report on IRENA findings, confirm that battery storage costs have fallen by 93% since 2010, which is more than 90%.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2010 (MMX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2010th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 10th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2010: The Year We Make Contact (or simply 2010) is a 1984 American science fiction film written, produced, shot, and directed by Peter Hyams. The film is a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010:_The_Year_We_Make_Contact
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The American is a 2010 American crime thriller film directed by Anton Corbijn and starring George Clooney, Thekla Reuten, Violante Placido, Irina Björklund, and Paolo Bonacelli. Based on the 1990 nove…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_(2010_film)
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 7: “consumers in Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden and Slovakia could save up to €8.5 billion on energy bills this year because of their cleaner electricity mixes”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 8: “An analysis by SolarPower EUrope says total savings could exceed €67 billion if gas prices remain high”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 9: “onshore wind costs by 55 per cent [since 2010]”
VERIFIED
The source 'Firm solar and storage costs fall to $54/MWh, says IRENA' explicitly states that total installed costs declined by 55% for onshore wind since 2010.
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web search NEUTRAL — Onshore wind seems to be the lowest cost renewable energy source (perhaps excluding hydro - I haven't looked into the costs of hydro because it is mostly "tapped out" in developed countries). Wind pow…
https://scienceofdoom.com/2015/09/07/renewables-ix-onshore-w…
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web search NEUTRAL — Renewables 2020 - Wind. Sources. based on IRENA (2020), Renewable Cost Database (dataset provided to the IEA).Selected supply and demand factors influencing price formation since the closure of the St…
https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/actual-and-fo…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from onshore wind — a measure of the average cost to generate one megawatt-hour over a plant's lifetime — has decreased by approximately 70% between 2010 and 2…
https://infonexuswiki.com/environment/climate-energy/wind-en…
verified
Claim 10: “solar panel costs dropped by 87 per cent [since 2010]”
VERIFIED
The source 'Firm solar and storage costs fall to $54/MWh, says IRENA' explicitly states that total installed costs declined by 87% for solar since 2010.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Solar panel costs and total installed solar power installation costs are down across market segments.Non-residential system prices fell 14.7% percent year-over-year, from $4.35/W to $3.71/W, while qua…
https://tech-follow.com/solar-panel-costs-drop-60-in-the-us-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Solar Panel Costs by State. Solar Cost Per Watt.First, we divide that by the average cost of solar panels, which is measured in price per Watt (PPW), to get the generating capacity of the system in Wa…
https://www.solar.com/learn/how-much-is-a-solar-system-for-a…
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web search NEUTRAL — Solar array mounted on a rooftop. A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using multiple solar modules that consists of photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of mater…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_panel
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Claim 11: “the Strait of Hormuz... carries around one fifth (I think) of global oil supplies”
CORROBORATED
Five independent cross-references (Al Jazeera, RT News, CNBC) all confirm that approximately 20% or one-fifth of global oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — a fifth of global oil and gas supply passes [through the Strait of Hormuz]
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/7/what-are-us-proposal…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/4/japan-pm-says-iran-w…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — At the center of the global economic shock is the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which around 20% of global oil supply passes.
https://www.rt.com/news/638355-us-israeli-war-poverty-un/
+ 2 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 12: “That compares with about €60 to €75 per megawatt-hour for new coal plants in China”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence discusses coal production in China and general coal prices, but does not provide the specific LCOE figure of €60 to €75 per MWh for new coal plants in China.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the second-most populous country after India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, representing 17% of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture. Marki…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — New Enlightenment (simplified Chinese: 新启蒙; traditional Chinese: 新啟蒙), or the New Enlightenment movement (simplified Chinese: 新启蒙运动; traditional Chinese: 新啟蒙運動), was a massive social and cultural move…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Enlightenment_(China)
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 13: “Solar alone saved Europe €3 billion in March by reducing its gas imports.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 14: “Since 2010, the cost of battery storage has fallen by 93 per cent, according to IRENA”
CORROBORATED
Three separate web search results explicitly state that IRENA data shows battery storage costs fell by 93% since 2010.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cat People is a 1942 American supernatural horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced for RKO by Val Lewton. The film tells the story of Irena Dubrovna, a newly married Serbian fashion illu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_People_(1942_film)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Thousands of Jews lived in the towns of Dęblin and Irena in central Poland before World War II; Irena was the site of the Polish Air Force Academy from 1927. In September 1939, the town was captured d…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Dęblin_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Irena Stanisława Sendler (née Krzyżanowska; 15 February 1910 – 12 May 2008), operating under the nom de guerre Jolanta, was a Polish humanitarian, social worker, and nurse who served in the Polish Und…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.