Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies
The levelized cost of electricity is the most common indicator used to compare the cost competitiveness of electricity-generating technologies. Several studies claim that some renewable energy technologies, particularly utility-scale solar photovol...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/125521593437517815/Demystifying-the-Costs-of-Electricity-Generation-Technologies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34018 |
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okr-10986-340182022-09-20T00:10:39Z Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies Timilsina, Govinda R. ELECTRICITY GENERATION ELECTRICITY COST RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLAR ENERGY COST ENERGY TECHNOLOGY The levelized cost of electricity is the most common indicator used to compare the cost competitiveness of electricity-generating technologies. Several studies claim that some renewable energy technologies, particularly utility-scale solar photovoltaic and onshore wind, are cost-competitive with fossil fuel–based technologies. However, there is no consensus on this point considering the wide variations in factors that influence the levelized costs of electricity across countries and technologies. This study calculates more than 4,000 levelized costs of electricity for 11 technologies, varying key input variables. The study shows that the levelized costs of electricity for renewable electricity technologies, except concentrated solar and offshore wind, are lower than those for fossil fuel–based technologies at the lower range of capital costs and discount rates of 10 percent or lower. However, for a reasonable range of input variables, calculations of the levelized costs of electricity for renewables based on reasonable parameter values do not justify the low auction prices for solar power, below US$20 per megawatt hour, recently observed in some parts of the world. The study also highlights the shortcomings of the levelized cost indicator for comparing the cost-competitiveness of different types of electricity generation technologies. 2020-07-02T16:26:14Z 2020-07-02T16:26:14Z 2020-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/125521593437517815/Demystifying-the-Costs-of-Electricity-Generation-Technologies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34018 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9303 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
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Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
ELECTRICITY GENERATION ELECTRICITY COST RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLAR ENERGY COST ENERGY TECHNOLOGY |
| spellingShingle |
ELECTRICITY GENERATION ELECTRICITY COST RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLAR ENERGY COST ENERGY TECHNOLOGY Timilsina, Govinda R. Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9303 |
| description |
The levelized cost of electricity is the
most common indicator used to compare the cost
competitiveness of electricity-generating technologies.
Several studies claim that some renewable energy
technologies, particularly utility-scale solar photovoltaic
and onshore wind, are cost-competitive with fossil
fuel–based technologies. However, there is no consensus on
this point considering the wide variations in factors that
influence the levelized costs of electricity across
countries and technologies. This study calculates more than
4,000 levelized costs of electricity for 11 technologies,
varying key input variables. The study shows that the
levelized costs of electricity for renewable electricity
technologies, except concentrated solar and offshore wind,
are lower than those for fossil fuel–based technologies at
the lower range of capital costs and discount rates of 10
percent or lower. However, for a reasonable range of input
variables, calculations of the levelized costs of
electricity for renewables based on reasonable parameter
values do not justify the low auction prices for solar
power, below US$20 per megawatt hour, recently observed in
some parts of the world. The study also highlights the
shortcomings of the levelized cost indicator for comparing
the cost-competitiveness of different types of electricity
generation technologies. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Timilsina, Govinda R. |
| author_facet |
Timilsina, Govinda R. |
| author_sort |
Timilsina, Govinda R. |
| title |
Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies |
| title_short |
Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies |
| title_full |
Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies |
| title_fullStr |
Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Demystifying the Costs of Electricity Generation Technologies |
| title_sort |
demystifying the costs of electricity generation technologies |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/125521593437517815/Demystifying-the-Costs-of-Electricity-Generation-Technologies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34018 |
| _version_ |
1764480008897691648 |