The Economics of Renewable Energy - Economic Affairs Committee - Contents

APPENDIX 5: COMPARATIVE COST ESTIMATES SUBMITTED TO THE INQUIRY IN MID-2008 OF RENEWABLE (EXCLUDING HYDRO), FOSSIL AND NUCLEAR ENERGY GENERATION. IN THE CASE OF RENEWABLES, THEY DO NOT ALLOW FOR EXTRA COSTS OF BACKUP CONVENTIONAL GENERATING CAPACITY OR GRID INTEGRATION, WHICH ARE EXPLORED IN CHAPTER 4.

	Laughton and REFa using figures from PB Power	REFa using IPA figures	British Energy using IPA for REFa (with varying carbon price)	British Energy using BERR Energy Review 2006	Centrica	E.On	British Wind Energy Association
Offshore wind	10	6.4-6.9	6.6	5.6-8.9	7.4-11	10.7
Onshore wind	5.6	4.1-4.8	4.4	5.1-6.4		7.5	6.2
Biomass	7
Tidal	12.6
Wave	21.8
Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) c	4.2	4.8-5.1	4.7-5.7	4.5-5.2	5.6-9.2	4.4-5.9	5.5-6.3
Open Cycle Gas Turbines c	7
Coal Plant with no carbon abatement technologies	4.2	4.4-4.9	4.2-6.4	2.6-4	5.5-8.0	4.2-7.1	5.0-6.8
Coal with carbon capture and storage b		4.9-5.4	5.1-5.3			6.8-7.1
Cleaner coal—Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC)	6.4	4.9-5.1	4.5-6.6	2.9-4.3	6.0-8.9
IGCC with carbon capture b				4.5-5.2	5.7-8.5
Nuclear	3.8	3.6-3.9	3.7	3-4.4	5.0-7.0	3.9	6.0

a REF stands for Renewable Energy Foundation.
b No power plant currently operates with carbon capture and storage.
c Both Closed Cycle and Open Cycle Gas Turbines use gas mixed with air to fuel a turbine. But the CCGT also uses the heat from the turbine exhaust to also create steam which turns a second turbine. The CCGT is therefore more efficient and hence cheaper.

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