Value chain · CLM-0249
In plain terms
Simply choosing a different interest rate to value future costs and income changes the final electricity price about as much as most of the technical improvements NASA tested -- and NASA never actually tested this choice.
The claim as recorded
Varying discount rate alone from 0% to 10% moves RD1's LCOE from 0.519 to 1.056 USD/kWh and RD2's from 0.821 to 2.016 USD/kWh, a swing comparable to or larger than most of the individual manufacturing and efficiency levers NASA OTPS tested in its own published sensitivity analysis, which never varies discount rate.
Scope and limits
Does not establish what the "correct" discount rate for an SBSP programme should be; 3% (Government financing, no equity return) is a legitimate policy scenario, just not the only one worth reporting.
What it assumes
7% and 10% are ASSUMED illustrative private-sector discount rates (regulated-utility-scale WACC and higher-risk first-of-kind infrastructure WACC respectively), not sourced to a specific named benchmark.
Where it comes from
This is the project's own working, shown in full:
Trace, Section 10: discount-rate table, 0%/3%/7%/10% for both designs.
Basis: FY2022 USD, nominal; RD1 and RD2, all other inputs at baseline
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-004 not published in this releaseQST-039 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0249
CLM-0249, Energy Aperture, as of 2026-09.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
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