Book Description

This Energy Commission staff draft report presents preliminary levelized cost estimates for several generic central-station electricity generation technologies. California has traditionally adopted energy policies that balance the goals of supporting economic development, improving environmental quality and promoting resource diversity. In order to be effective, such policies must be based on comprehensive and timely gathering of information. With this goal in mind, the purpose of the report is to provide comparative levelized cost estimates for a set of renewable (e.g., solar) and nonrenewable (e.g., natural gas-fired) central-station electricity generation resources, based on each technology's operation and capital cost. Decision-makers and others can use this information to compare the generic cost to build specific technology. These costs are not site specific. If a developer builds a specific power plant at a specific location, the cost of siting that plant at that specific location must be considered. The Energy Commission staff also identifies the type of fuel used by each technology and a description of the manner in which the technology operates in the generation system. The target audiences of this report are both policy-makers and anyone wishing to understand some of the fundamental attributes that are generally considered when evaluating the cost of building and operating different electricity generation technology resources. These costs do not reflect the total cost to consumers of adding these technologies to a resources portfolio. These technology characterizations do not capture all of the system, environmental or other relevant attributes that would typically be needed by a portfolio manager to conduct a comprehensive ''comparative value analysis''. A portfolio analysis will vary depending on the particular criteria and measurement goals of each study. For example, some form of firm capacity is typically needed with wind generation to support system reliability. [DJE-2005].