Value chain · CLM-1416
In plain terms
A 2022 study for the European Space Agency put the cheapest case for space solar power at about 55 euros per megawatt-hour after adjusting for the value of its electricity, under optimistic costs, a 10% cost of capital and a 30-year life.
The claim as recorded
Roland Berger's 2022 ESA study gives its lowest SBSP VALCoE, 55 EUR/MWh, at a 10% WACC, a "90% efficiency factor" and a 30-year economic life; on the same page, the VALCoE chart prints right-margin labels 91 Nuclear, 58 Solar PV, 49 onshore wind and 37 offshore wind, with no year beside them. Footnote 7: "Lowest VALCoE of 55 EUR/MWh for SBSP was calculated using the optimistic cost assumption, with a WACC of 10%, 90% efficiency factor and 30 years of economic lifetime". The footnote ties the VALCoE development to the IEA's World Energy Outlook 2021 Stated Policies Scenario.
Evidence behind this: T4, as the SRC-203 row: an ESA-commissioned consultancy executive summary; the chart and footnote state results, not the model.
Scope and limits
"90% efficiency factor" is the page's term; the page does not say capacity factor. p.25 footnote 8 attributes a 90% efficiency to the solar equinox and maintenance ("Assuming 90% efficiency due to solar equinox ... and maintenance"); its anchor is not on p.25 and was not traced, so its tie to footnote 7 is not shown. Reading either as a capacity factor is an interpretation. The right-margin labels are not line-end values: the 91 and 58 labels sit level with the two navy bars that bound "Competitive range of SBSP from a supply perspective" (2040 to 2050), and the plotted lines do not all end at the labelled values; no line-end value is recorded here as the source's. The SBSP competitive-range bands are drawn, not numbered, on this page. No price year is given for EUR on this page. VALCoE here follows the IEA method (compare CLM-0308).
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
PDF 19 [19], footnote 7, raw: "In its World Energy Outlook 2021, IEA published the estimated VALCoE development for the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS)." "Lowest VALCoE of 55 EUR/MWh for SBSP was calculated using the optimistic cost assumption, with a WACC of 10%, 90% efficiency factor and 30 years of economic lifetime". Chart C, "EVOLUTION OF THE VALUE-ADJUSTED LEVELIZED COST OF ELECTRICITY (VALCOE) PER TECHNOLOGY", render read: right-hand labels "91 Nuclear", "58 Solar PV", "49 onshore wind", "37 offshore wind"; band annotations "Competitive range of SBSP from a supply perspective" and "Competitive range of SBSP from a supply and demand perspective"; "Source: Roland Berger". PDF 25 [25], footnote 8, normalised (the page's en dashes as hyphens): "Assuming 90% efficiency due to solar equinox - which occurs twice each year, around March 20 and September 23 - and maintenance".
Basis: EUR per MWh; WACC 10%
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1416
CLM-1416, Energy Aperture, as of 2022.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
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