LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy)

LCOE, or Levelized Cost of Energy, is a metric used to compare the costs of different electricity generation technologies over their lifetime.

Technology

Total Cost Fully Loaded (USD/MWh)

Total Cost Fully Loaded (USD/MWh)

Storage & Backup Cost Included?

Battery/Nuclear Waste Disposal Included?

Carbon & Pollution Externalities Included?

  

Hydropower (firm)

45

95

N/A

Yes (sediment, biodiversity)

Yes (very low emissions)

  

Geothermal (firm)

65

110

N/A

Yes (fluid disposal, seismic monitoring)

Yes (very low emissions)

  

Natural Gas (CCGT)

70

110

N/A

No battery; partial CO₂ mitigation

Yes (partial methane and CO₂ costs)

  

Onshore Wind (with storage)

85

140

Yes

Yes (blades, batteries)

Yes

  

Coal (ultra-supercritical)

90

140

N/A

No battery; now includes CO₂ externality

Yes (full CO₂ and pollutants)

  

Solar PV (with storage)

95

150

Yes

Yes (batteries, panels, inverters)

Yes

  

Nuclear (Gen III+)

100

175

N/A

Yes (includes long-term HLW & decommissioning)

Yes (low GHG, high risk management)

  

Offshore Wind (with storage)

120

190

Yes

Yes (offshore blades, batteries)

Yes

  

Source Chat GPT

Here is a comprehensive list of data sources and methodologies you can use to calculate the fully loaded Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for different technologies, including:

  • Capital expenditure

  • Operating costs

  • Storage and battery degradation

  • Nuclear waste disposal

  • Carbon and pollution externalities

  • End-of-life recycling

📚 Primary Data Sources for Calculating LCOE with All Costs

1. Capital, O&M, and Fuel Costs

Source What it Provides
Lazard LCOE Reports (v17+)lazard.com Baseline LCOE for solar, wind, gas, coal, nuclear, and storage (US-focused, includes battery degradation)
IEA World Energy Outlookiea.org International LCOE ranges, technology learning rates, capacity factors
U.S. EIA Annual Energy Outlook (AEO)eia.gov Detailed technology cost assumptions, capacity factors, fuel prices
NREL Annual Technology Baseline (ATB)atb.nrel.gov Cost data and projections for solar, wind, geothermal, storage

2. Storage System Costs and Degradation

Source What it Provides
IRENA Electricity Storage Costsirena.org Global battery cost trends, cycle life, efficiency losses
BNEF Energy Storage Outlookabout.bnef.com Forecasts for Li-ion, flow batteries, solid-state; cost per cycle
DOE Energy Storage Grand Challengeenergy.gov Lifespan, recycling cost estimates, LCOE impacts of storage

3. End-of-Life & Recycling Costs

Source What it Provides
IEA PVPS (Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme) Panel disposal and recycling cost estimates (~$10–$25 per panel)
IRENA: End-of-Life Solar PV Panel Management Lifecycle cost of PV recycling, policy recommendations
WindEurope Blade Recycling Reports Disposal and recycling strategies for wind turbine blades
Battery Recycling Reports (e.g., Li-Cycle, DOE) Cost of lithium-ion battery end-of-life and recovery economics

4. Nuclear Waste & Decommissioning

Source What it Provides
OECD-NEA: Costs of Decommissioning Full cost breakdown of dismantling and managing waste from nuclear plants
IAEA Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology Reports Fuel reprocessing, high-level waste storage costs, geological disposal planning
World Nuclear Associationworld-nuclear.org Country-specific nuclear waste strategies and cost ranges
Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future U.S. policy and cost analysis of final HLW storage

5. Carbon, Methane & Pollution Externalities

Source What it Provides
EPA Social Cost of Carbon (SCC)epa.gov Cost per ton of CO₂: ~$51–$190/ton depending on scenario
IMF Carbon Pricing Database Actual and theoretical carbon prices used for internalizing externalities
World Bank State and Trends of Carbon Pricing Real-world carbon prices in >60 countries and how to model them
Harvard Six Cities Study, EU ExternE Project Cost of air pollution and particulate matter from fossil fuel combustion
Global Methane Tracker – IEA Emission rates and methane leakage from natural gas supply chains

6. Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) Databases

Source What it Provides
Ecoinvent Databaseecoinvent.org Full LCA datasets for every major technology and material
OpenLCA Software + Databasesopenlca.org Modeling of emissions, toxicity, land use, water for energy systems
GREET Model – Argonne National Lab Emissions and energy consumption across fuel supply chains

🛠️ Tools & Frameworks for Custom Calculation

  • 📊 HOMER Pro – Microgrid modeling (includes storage, cost stacking)

  • 📈 SAM (System Advisor Model) by NREL – Solar PV and storage LCOE modeling

  • 🧮 RETScreen Expert – Renewable energy project economics

  • 📚 PyPSA (Python for Power System Analysis) – Open-source simulation of energy systems with emissions tracking

Would you like a step-by-step guide on how to use these sources to build your own fully-loaded LCOE calculator (e.g., in Excel or Python)?

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