Authors of this $3,500 report (Title: Renewables compete with conventional alternatives as the levelized cost of electricity is driven down by technological developments and mass deployments) say the capital costs of renewable energy generationare currently higher than those of conventional methods, but government initiatives and technological advances have steadily decreased renewable generation expenditure over the last four to five years, lowering the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and further driving the industry. Initiatives aimed at cutting carbon emissions and establishing long term energy security will see renewable energy claim a 36% share of global cumulative installed capacity by the end of the decade.
The solar PV sector has expanded massively in recent years, and with countries including India and China announcing ambitious future solar PV targets, there are no signs of this growth abating in the near future. It is predicted that global solar PV installed capacity will reach 331 GW by 2020 from 97 GW in 2012, climbing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.6%. Spurred on by favorable government policies in countries such as Germany, China, and the US, the global installed capacity for wind is also expected to prove a key contributor to renewable energy, more than doubling from 284 GW in 2012 to 685 GW by 2020.
The authors say the report providesan in-depth analysis of the cost of power generation, levelized cost of electricity for different power generating technologies, both renewable and conventional, in six major countries like the US, China, India, Germany, the UK and Australia between 2011 and 2020. The report also provides information on key trends, factors impacting the cost of power generation and electricity prices.
• Levelized cost of electricity for power generation from renewable resources such as biomass, wind and solar PV from 2011 to 2020
• Levelized cost of electricity for power generation from conventional resources such as from coal and gas from 2011 to 2020
• Key trends of cost of power generation in global power market
• Factors impacting cost of power generation and electricity prices
• Overview of grid parity From the executive summary: Levelized Cost of Electricity for Renewable Energy Technologies becoming increasingly Competitive with that for Conventional Energy Generation Technologies.
The capital costs of renewable energy generation technologies such as solar PV and solar thermal are currently higher than those of conventional energy generation technologies. However, the capital costs of these renewable energy technologies have been declining over the last four to five years. The major drivers driving down the cost of these technologies are their technological improvements and mass deployments. Also, increasing costs during long-term construction and fluctuating fuel costs for conventional power generation are reducing the gap between the electricity costs of these two technologies. Thus the LCOE of renewable energy technologies is becoming competitive with that of conventional technologies.
GBI Research
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