ELI5/ Why is the cost of electricity constantly increasing despite the increasing amount of renewable and green energy?

Question

I understand there is installation, maintenance and servicing costs, but shouldn’t the free power from the sun, wind and tidal eventually pay this off and start providing free power?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

For one, the cost of everything has gone up recently (though it seems to be leveling off now). And “renewable” doesn’t mean “free.” You still have to build and maintain generating facilities. Those might be, but aren’t necessarily cheaper than what they’re replacing (old facility + fuel source).