Value chain · CLM-0305
In plain terms
How long a power plant is assumed to last matters much less to its cost per unit of electricity than the interest rate does.
The claim as recorded
The same source finds that, at its 7% discount rate, varying asset lifetime from half to one and a half times the baseline changes median LCOE by only 7% to 12% for nuclear, coal and gas plants, and by 27% to 31% (halving lifetime) or 8% to 9% (extending it by half) for wind and solar, a materially smaller effect than the discount-rate sensitivity in CLM-0304.
Scope and limits
One source's sensitivity study; percentages are conditional on the source's own baseline lifetime assumptions. The 7% to 12% is stated at the source's 7% discount rate.
What it assumes
Nuclear 60-year, coal 40-year, gas 30-year, wind and solar 25-year baseline lifetimes, per the source's own stated assumptions.
Where it comes from
printed p.87 / PDF p.89: "For all flexible technologies... the difference between the lower and upper value ranges between 7% and 12%... For wind and solar units... cutting the expected lifetime in half increases average costs between 27% and 31%. Extending it by 50%... reduces costs by around 8% to 9%."
Basis: USD, real terms
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-039 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0305
CLM-0305, Energy Aperture, as of 2020-12.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-161
- CLM-0300The main international definition of LCOE is the flat price per unit of electricity a power plant would need to be paid, every year of its...CLM-0301The IEA itself says plain LCOE misses how useful a power plant is to the wider electricity system, which is why it built a second, add-on...CLM-0304The interest rate assumed changes an LCOE figure a lot, and most for plants that cost the most to build: in a 2020 international study...CLM-0308The IEA's alternative metric adds credit for how much a power plant helps keep the grid reliable, on top of its raw energy cost, but the...