Abbie
What's the Renewable Energy Cost?
What's the renewable energy cost? The answer will vary by technology, but on average, onshore wind and solar PV cost about $0.06 per kilowatt-hour.
The most competitive solutions will involve a mix of these technologies, including demand-side management and energy storage. Regardless of the exact costs, intermittent RE is still too expensive to compete with fossil fuels in price. Let's look at some of the factors that affect the cost of renewable energy.
Solar PV costs $68
In 2010, utility-scale solar power cost $378 per megawatt-hour (MWh). Today, solar PV costs as little as $68 per MWh. This makes solar PV cheaper than coal, onshore wind, and nuclear power. Solar PV has also decreased in cost due to increasing competition and reduced capital costs.
In the past decade, PV costs have decreased by a factor of ten or more, depending on the technology.
To understand how much a solar panel costs, consider that the energy must be converted from DC to alternating current (AC) before it can be used. Converting from DC to AC loses 10 percent of the energy.
Considering that solar power's peak hours last just 3.63 hours a day, 365 days a year, and 20 years, solar panels should have a lifespan of 30 years or more. Solar PV will cost homeowners $68 per megawatt-hour or less.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), solar photovoltaics cost as little as $68 per megawatt-hour in 2019. This is a significant improvement over previous years, but it is still far from cheap.
For most homeowners, the cost of installing a rooftop solar PV system would still be more than $800 per megawatt-hour. Solar PV costs $68 per MWh in India, but that cost would be far higher in China.
With the SunShot initiative, the Department of Energy has announced a commitment to make solar electricity affordable in the U.S. by 2030. In its first phase, the initiative helped industry achieve 90% of the target in five years.
The Energy Department has also announced up to $65 million for three new funding opportunities, subject to congressional appropriations. And with the help of these funds, solar electricity prices could drop to as low as $0.02 per kWh within the next five years.
Onshore wind costs $0.06
Germany has agreed to cap the maximum price of onshore wind turbines at 6.20 euro cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) starting in 2019. The Bundesnetzagentur's decision aims to reverse a recent drop in applications.
The price cap reflects a difficult challenge: balancing the need to support new turbine construction and keep prices as low as possible for consumers. Because consumers are sharing the cost of feeding green power into grids, it wasn't possible to rely on the traditional approach of setting prices through auctions. Developers cite an uncertain political framework as one of the reasons for the change.
LCOE for offshore wind projects decreased by 28% in Europe between 2010 and 2018, according to EIA data. This decline was greatest in Belgium, where the LCOE dropped by 28%. Germany and the UK both experienced a 24% reduction.
These reductions were due to economies of scale. As a result, the costs of offshore wind projects in these countries are expected to reach $0.06 to $10/kWh by 2020.
Increasingly efficient turbines have cut installation and project development costs. However, this reduction was offset by the lack of U.S.-based supply chains and Jones Act-compliant vessels.
The cost of offshore wind in the U.S. was estimated at $160 per MWh in 2017, compared to $0.06/kWh in the UK. This price decrease is not a result of improved technology or better wind regimes; it is a result of the cost-efficiency of offshore wind projects.
In Asia and North America, onshore wind and solar PV are now cheaper than coal and other fossil fuels. Currently, onshore wind costs $0.06/kWh. Solar PV and concentrated solar power are not competitive, but future price reductions will bring them close to this level.
With the help of government programs, solar PV and onshore wind will compete directly for the market. If more countries adopt this approach, the cost of energy will decrease substantially.
Geothermal costs $68
Geothermal renewable energy costs $68 per kilowatt-hour to produce, but its high initial investment and low operating costs make it a viable source of baseload power. In the U.S., the total cost for a geothermal field and power plant is about $2500 per installed kilowatt-hour.
Operating and maintenance costs are typically between $0.01 and $0.03 per kWh, depending on the system's availability. However, higher availability may increase maintenance costs.
In the US, geothermal power can cost more than $140 per megawatt-hour, which is double the cost of onshore wind and five times higher than solar power.
Even Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, which holds the rights to much of the Salton Sea's geothermal field, has been struggling to find buyers for its electricity. In the meantime, other sources of renewable energy cost less than $68 per MWh.
The US DOE budget for geothermal research and development this year reached $1 billion. The US government has earmarked $200 million through 2024 to help commercialize this technology. Private investment in geothermal power has ramped up, too.
In the first half of 2020, global geothermal investments topped $675 million. Meanwhile, renewable energy investments grew by nearly five percent. And by 2024, geothermal production capacity is expected to reach twenty-four gigawatts.
One of the leading geothermal companies, Ormat Technologies, Inc., has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with the Southern California Public Power Authority.
The PPA provides 16MW of energy to the authority, which will resell the remaining 14MW to off-takers or sell it at the spot market. This is the first geothermal power plant in the CAISO balancing authority in thirty years.
Hydropower costs $68
A hydropower plant produces about 6% of the nation's energy. While it is more expensive than solar, wind, and natural gas, its total cost of electricity generation is about $68 per megawatt-hour. Hydropower is a renewable energy source because the fuel is water.
It is also less expensive than energy efficiency measures such as insulating your home with windows. Hydropower represents 52% of the renewable electricity generated in the US.
While there are several types of renewable energy, hydropower remains the lowest cost source of electricity in many countries.
Hydropower has historically been the least expensive way to generate electricity and is also an important contributor to the stability of electric systems. Hydropower also provides an array of ancillary services that support grid reliability.
Hydroelectricity can generate electricity at a cost of up to $68 per kilowatt-hour, and its LCOE can be as low as $0.020 per kWh for large-scale hydro projects. The cost of new hydro capacity installed globally last year averaged USD 0.06/kWh.
In 2010, solar photovoltaic electricity cost $378 per megawatt-hour, compared to $0.68 per kWh in 2019. While coal, nuclear, and onshore wind continue to be the cheapest sources of energy, the costs for solar energy have dropped dramatically.
The cost of onshore wind energy is approaching $0.13 per kWh. Hydropower costs $68 per megawatt hour, which is still very cheap compared to fossil fuels.
There is still a long way to go before the world produces all of its electricity from renewable sources. However, a new study published in PLOS One finds that carbon dioxide is a larger contributor to greenhouse gas emissions than methane.
Researchers examined data from 1,400 dams in the world. They found that the rate at which soil erosion into the reservoir determines carbon dioxide emissions. The study was led by Laura Schererer, a research associate at ETH Zurich.
Bioenergy costs $68
According to the World Bank, generating bioenergy is associated with a cost of $68 per kilowatt-hour. The majority of bioenergy is produced in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Qinghai provinces.
In rural areas, the costs are greater, accounting for more than 5% of GDP. In the scenario “B90-2015-PC” to offset one gigatonne of CO2-equivalent per year, the total cost of bioenergy production and economic costs overlap by 50%.
The cost of producing bioenergy is based on the present value of revenues from the crop in the period t. The cost of producing a bioenergy crop per hectare is Ct, and Yt is its yield, net of storage and harvesting losses.
The opportunity cost of land, measured in $ha-1, is also included in this equation. However, the cost of producing bioenergy is not equal to the cost of reforestation.
If miscanthus and switchgrass can be grown and produced at the same cost, the cost of bioenergy production would be lower. The breakeven prices of bioenergy crops in Southern Missouri are lower than those in other Midwestern counties.
If both biofuels are grown on marginal land, the opportunity cost of land would be lower, resulting in lower breakeven prices. In the long run, bioenergy production will save farmers money on agrochemicals and land.
Sources for Renewable Energy Cost
https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/hydropower-basics
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/energy/brief/cost-of-producing-bioenergy
