• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Corporate News
  • Generation
  • Oil & Gas
  • Regulation
  • Renewable
    • Climate
    • Solar
    • Wind
  • Storage
  • Tech
  • T & D
Energy News Desk Logo

Energy News Desk

Energy News and Data

Average U.S. construction costs for solar and wind generation continue to fall

September 16, 2020 by EIA Gov

September 16, 2020capacity-weighted average construction costs for electricity generators


According to 2018 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for newly constructed utility-scale electric generators in the United States, annual capacity-weighted average construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems and onshore wind turbines have continued to decrease. Natural gas generator costs also decreased slightly in 2018.

From 2013 to 2018, costs for solar fell 50%, costs for wind fell 27%, and costs for natural gas fell 13%. Together, these three generation technologies accounted for more than 98% of total capacity added to the electricity grid in the United States in 2018. Investment in U.S. electric-generating capacity in 2018 increased by 9.3% from 2017, driven by natural gas capacity additions.

Solar
The average construction cost for solar photovoltaic generators is higher than wind and natural gas generators on a dollar-per-kilowatt basis, although the gap is narrowing as the cost of solar falls rapidly. From 2017 to 2018, the average construction cost of solar in the United States fell 21% to $1,848 per kilowatt (kW). The decrease was driven by falling costs for crystalline silicon fixed-tilt panels, which were at their lowest average construction cost of $1,767 per kW in 2018.

Crystalline silicon fixed-tilt panels—which accounted for more than one-third of the solar capacity added in the United States in 2018, at 1.7 gigawatts (GW)—had the second-highest share of solar capacity additions by technology. Crystalline silicon axis-based tracking panels had the highest share, with 2.0 GW (41% of total solar capacity additions) of added generating capacity at an average cost of $1,834 per kW.

average construction costs for solar photovoltaic electricity generators


Wind
Total U.S. wind capacity additions increased 18% from 2017 to 2018 as the average construction cost for wind turbines dropped 16% to $1,382 per kW. All wind farm size classes had lower average construction costs in 2018. The largest decreases were at wind farms with 1 megawatt (MW) to 25 MW of capacity; construction costs at these farms decreased by 22.6% to $1,790 per kW.

average construction costs for wind farms


Natural gas
Compared with other generation technologies, natural gas technologies received the highest U.S. investment in 2018, accounting for 46% of total capacity additions for all energy sources. Growth in natural gas electric-generating capacity was led by significant additions in new capacity from combined-cycle facilities, which almost doubled the previous year’s additions for that technology. Combined-cycle technology construction costs dropped by 4% in 2018 to $858 per kW.

average construction costs for natural gas-fired electricity generators


Principal contributor: Alex Mey

Original source: EIA.gov

Filed Under: Renewable, Solar, Wind

Primary Sidebar

Join The Daily Charge

This week's top 5 stories in your inbox. No spam ever.

Trending

  • Energy Company Increases Planning Visibility with Hive9 Software
  • Schneider Electric, SolarEdge Partner to Accelerate Residential Solar Market
  • Orsted, PGE Partner on Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Projects
  • California Grant Program Improves Tribal Access to Clean Energy
  • Clean Power Alliance Adds New Solar, Storage Capacity to Portfolio
  • SunBrush mobil Expands PV Cleaning Operations into the U.S. Market
  • IEEFA: Utility-Scale Solar Underutilized
  • EPRI, Partners Receive Funding to Research DER Grid Integration
  • Thousands of Miles of Scottish Coast Offer Huge Offshore Wind Potential
  • LOC Awarded Survey Contract for Offshore Wind Farm

Footer

Trending

  • Energy Company Increases Planning Visibility with Hive9 Software
  • Schneider Electric, SolarEdge Partner to Accelerate Residential Solar Market
  • Orsted, PGE Partner on Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Projects
  • California Grant Program Improves Tribal Access to Clean Energy
  • Clean Power Alliance Adds New Solar, Storage Capacity to Portfolio

Recent

  • Quick Tips To A Sustainable Future
  • Stem Provides Smart Energy Storage Solutions to Today’s Power
  • EIA's AEO2021 shows U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions rising after the mid-2030s
  • Homeowners associations still a barrier for some would-be solar customers
  • Commentary: With open standards, U.S. can build EV charging infrastructure faster

Search

Contact Us

Write For Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · EnergyNewsDesk.com