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Levelized Cost of Energy Mapping Tool Available for Southeast Asia

RE Data Explorer's Levelized Cost of Energy Mapping tool provides first-of-its-kind results of a spatial levelized cost of energy (LCOE) analysis across select countries in Southeast Asia.

The tool fills a critical gap in identifying opportunities and scaling up renewable energy with quality data and analyses to support decisions on investing in and deploying renewables.

How To Use Tool

  1. Launch RE-Data Explorer for Southeast Asia
  2. Select "Analysis and Downloads" tab in top navigation
  3. Select "Cost of Energy Mapping Tool"
  4. Select "Run Analysis" tab
  5. Select your country, region, currency, resource, technical potential scenario, capital costs, fixed O&M costs, transmission costs, road cost, debt fraction, discount rate, lifetime, and limit results by LCOE.
  6. Click "Run Analysis."

What Is Levelized Cost of Energy?

Generation costs are expressed as LCOE, which represents the net present value of the unit cost of electricity over the lifetime of a particular electricity generation system in dollars (USD or currency) per megawatt-hour (MWh).

The Cost of Energy Mapping Tool uses a site-based LCOE methodology that considers the energy produced at the location of the generator and that does not include transmission interconnection (or access road) costs.

Why Is It Important?

Estimating LCOE is an initial step in assessing economic potential at a location or within a region. Economic potential is a subset of technical potential that quantifies the amount of economically viable renewable generation that is available at a location or within a region.

Resources

For more information on LCOE and economic potential analyses, refer to the following resources:

Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Levelized Cost of Energy Calculator

Estimating Renewable Energy Economic Potential in the United States: Methodology and Initial Results

A Manual for the Economic Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies.

Highlighted Resource

Exploring Renewable Energy Opportunities in Select Southeast Asian Countries: A Geospatial Analysis of the LCOE of Utility-Scale Wind and Solar PV

Read this report to learn how there is an abundant potential for utility-scale, land-based wind and solar PV development across Southeast Asia.

Screenshot from the mapping tool

Map of Solar Photovoltaics (PV) Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) in ASEAN Region for Moderate Technical Potential Scenario (Source: Exploring Renewable Energy Opportunities in Select Southeast Asian Countries: A Geospatial Analysis of the LCOE of Utility-Scale Wind and Solar PV)


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