Levelised cost of electricity 2015

The current electricity sector is in a state of dynamic and constant change, driven by innovation, learning curves and changes in the electricity generation mix. In these requirements was calculated a new edition of a Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) based on the fundamental idea to calculate yearly average costs of building and operating the plant, and to compare this with the average annual energy generated.


The current electricity sector is in a state of dynamic and constant change, driven by innovation, learning curves and changes in the electricity generation mix. In these requirements was calculated a new edition of a Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) based on the fundamental idea to calculate yearly average costs of building and operating the plant, and to compare this with the average annual energy generated.

The calculation of LCOE gained for Renewables (Hydro run of river, On/Offshore Wind and PV ground mounted) is a spread between 2.2 and 18.0 ct/kWh. While the computation of the LCOE for Thermal Power Plants (Coal, Lignite, Gas CCGT & OCGT and Nuclear) received a split in the Real Case scenario between 2.9 till 22.7 ct/kWh and in the Ideal Case scenario was achieved a reduction of 0.2 ct/kWh for the minimum value.

The results of the LCOE should be considered carefully due to the following limitations. The result are based on the assumption of a baseload operation, which is rarely given for thermal power plants, the additional system costs of fluctuating generation are not incorporated or to consider constant prices as a suitable investment tool.