Utility-scale solar and wind costs down by 9% and 2% in a year - Lazard

The cost of generating power from utility-scale solar and onshore wind farms has decreased by 9% and 2%, respectively, over the past year, according to a new report by Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ).

The latest Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis (LCOE 14.0) by the financial advisory and asset management firm shows that the average cost of large solar parks and wind farms in the US, when government subsidies are taken into account, has fallen to USD 26 (EUR 22) and USD 31 (EUR 26.3) per MWh, respectively. These two sources became cost-competitive with conventional generation several years ago on a new-build basis and continue to maintain competitiveness with the marginal cost of selected existing traditional energy technologies. Of course, resource availability and fuel costs in different regions can lead to a notable variance in the cost of energy.

The average cost of US coal, nuclear and combined cycle gas generation has reached USD 41/MWh, USD 29/MWh and USD 28/MWh, respectively, according to the report.

The rate of solar and wind cost declines continues to slow down, Lazard noted. Utility-scale solar has been falling by 11% per year in the last five years, while for onshore wind the annual decrease in cost has been 5% over the same period.

The LCOE 14.0 report and Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Storage Analysis (LCOS 6.0) are available here: https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-and-levelized-cost-of-storage-2020/.

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