Our prototype LCOE calculator is now live!   

 

Our prototype LCOE calculator is now live, and is intended to help would-be generators estimate how much their project will cost to build, own and operate. 

 

In my post of 23^rd April, I described the Levelised Cost of Energy, commonly just called the LCOE, of a generation project.  In simple terms, it is the all-up cost to build, own and operate the project, expressed in dollars per MWh ($/MWh) of the project’s generation output. 

 

Most would-be generators want to know their LCOE, which they can compare to the prices they expect (or hope!) to get when their project is built. 

 

If the LCOE is $70/MWh and you expect to get paid $100/MWh for the project’s output over its lifetime, then you might just want to investigate it in more detail. 

 

But if the LCOE is $100/MWh and you expect to get paid only $70/MWh for the project’s output over its lifetime, then you will need to look for ways to reduce the project’s cost (or find another career!) 

 

The tool is available to use now at https://www.energylink.co.nz/lcoe-calculator. 

 

It is still a prototype, so we’ll be checking the LCOEs it sends out to make sure they are correct, given the way our LCOE model is supposed to work. 

 

If we get enough interest, we will look to improve the accuracy, and add extra features to the calculator.