Value chain · CLM-0180
In plain terms
The low headline cost figure in this paper depends on using a very low 2% discount rate borrowed from a US home-energy-efficiency programme, not a rate reflecting the financial risk of building a brand-new kind of space infrastructure - the authors themselves flag that a different, riskier financing situation would need a different (higher) rate.
The claim as recorded
The 9.4 cents/kWh "middle" LCOE figure (CLM-0179) is calculated using a discount rate of 2%, taken from a 2024 US Department of Energy memorandum on discount rates for federal energy-efficiency cost-effectiveness calculations (DOE WAP Memorandum 123); the paper's own footnote states this rate "reflects one particular funding structure in one specific country during one specific macroeconomic climate" and that "changes to these conditions would require the use of a different discount rate."
Scope and limits
Does not itself show what LCOE would result from a higher, risk-adjusted discount rate; for comparison, Frazer-Nash's CASSIOPeiA model (CLM-0170) uses 20% for the equivalent purpose - a 10x higher rate - which alone would be expected to increase this paper's LCOE substantially if applied.
What it assumes
That a federal energy-efficiency cost-effectiveness discount rate is a reasonable proxy for the cost of capital for a novel space infrastructure project - the authors do not claim this, they flag it as a limitation.
Where it comes from
"The discount rate, which reflects the cost of capital, is assumed to be 2%, as per a 2024 U.S. Department of Energy memorandum. However, this number reflects one particular funding structure in one specific country during one specific macroeconomic climate. Changes to these conditions would require the use of a different discount rate." (PDF p.19, note 117).
Basis: percentage (discount rate), sourced from a 2024 US DOE memorandum
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-039 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0180
CLM-0180, Energy Aperture, as of 2025-06.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-006
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