Geothermal, like bioenergy-fired electricity and hydropower, is among the cheapest forms of “always on” renewable generation where good resources exist, with costs as low as USD 0.04/kWh for the most competitive brown-field projects. Geothermal electricity generation is a mature, “always on” generation technology that utilises steam or hot water from geothermally active areas to provide highly competitive electricity where high-quality resources exist. Enhanced geothermal techniques can also make geothermal viable in areas without good resources.

Between 2007 and 2019, the LCOE of geothermal varied from USD 0.04/kWh for second-stage development of an existing field to as high as USD 0.17/kWh for greenfield developments in remote areas. The global weighted-average LCOE increased from around USD 0.05/kWh for projects commissioned in 2010 to around USD 0.07/kWh in 2019, although given the low level of new capacity additions, annual weighted-averages are quite variable.

Biodiesel

Bioethanol

Biomass

Biomethane

CSP

Electric vehicles

Geothermal

Hydropower

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)

Power Generation

Solar photovoltaic

Transport Section

Wind

The Power to Change: Solar and Wind Cost Reduction Potential to 2025

Increasing economies of scale, more competitive supply chains and further technological improvements will continue reducing the costs of solar and wind power. The same factors will also boost the availability of these key renewable power sources at night and in varying weather conditions.

• June 2016
• |
• Costs, Power
• |
• English

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