Lazard has released version 8.0 of the its Levilized Cost of Energy Analysis (LCOE) which continues to show a decline in the cost of renewable energy. The report, that can be viewed at http://www.lazard.com/insights, highlights a number of trends that will be of great interest for those in the mining/renewables space.
In particular:
- The costs of generating electricity from all forms of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) technology continue to decline dramatically. The study estimates that the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of leading PV technologies has fallen by nearly 20% in the past year, and nearly 80% in the last five years.
- Land-based wind-generation costs also continue to decline dramatically. The study estimates that the LCOE of leading technologies has fallen by more than 15% in the past year, and nearly 60% in the last five years. However, offshore wind generation is currently at least twice as expensive as land-based, and therefore not cost-competitive without subsidies.
- Battery storage technologies continue to be very expensive and not cost-competitive without subsidies. However, the LCOE of “next generation” battery storage technologies could decline by as much as 40% by 2017, given expected reductions in capital costs, operation and maintenance costs, and improvements in efficiency.
(see news release from MarketWatch here )