March, 2014 – The EIA has released projected cost estimates for power supply projects starting now that would be expected to begin operation by 2018. These costs estimates serve as a guide for electric utilities as they construct new generation facilities to serve growing load or replace less efficient plants.
EIA groups these cost estimates into two basic types: dispatchable and non-dispatchable. Dispatchable generation can be turned on when needed and non-dispatchable cannot.
EIA cost estimates do not include federal and state tax credits.
If you look at the charts below, it’s not hard to see why Natural Gas – Combined Cycle generation is about the only type of dispatchable generation being built these days.
As an example, NC electric cooperatives plan to own 100 MW of a recently announced Duke Energy 750 MW natural gas combined cycle generating plant.
For more information, see the news release.
Do you have a question or comment about the EIA generation cost estimates? Suggestions for future topics? Please submit them to MAC@wemc.
| Dispatchable Technologies | ||
| Generation Type | Capital Cost ($kW) | Average Cost (cents/kWh) |
| Conventional Coal | 3,300 | 10 |
| Coal With Carbon Dioxide Capture | 6,600 | 13.6 |
| Natural Gas-Combined Cycle | 1,000 | 6.7 |
| Natural Gas-Combustion Turbine | 1,000 | 13 |
| Nuclear | 5,000 | 10.8 |
| Non-Dispatchable Technologies | ||
| Generation Type | Capital Cost ($kW) | Average Cost (cents/kWh) |
| Wind | 3,300 | 10 |
| Offshore wind | 6,600 | 13.6 |
| Solar PV | 1,000 | 6.7 |
| Solar Thermal | 1,000 | 13 |