A new tool to track transitions: the IEA clean energy equipment price index

In 2021 and 2022 a barrage of factors pushed up prices of clean energy equipment. The cost of inputs, such as critical minerals, soared. Logistical problems prevented shipments from clearing ports or arriving to destination on time. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 upended energy trade patterns as most of the world, and Europe in particularly, drastically reduced imports from Russia (one of the world’s top three crude producers) and sped up deployment of clean energy. Fossil fuel prices – a major cost for manufacturing and transport – spiked. But despite continued acceleration of clean energy deployment in many markets, these challenges eased over the first half of 2023, reversing upward price trends. Inflation is starting to slow across the world as fuel prices fall back, key component supply is increasing and global economic growth is projected to slow down.