Toward global comparability in renewable energy procurement

Prices from the competitive procurement of renewable energy are increasingly used for the comparative evaluation of financial and technology performance. Comparing prices from auctions or power-purchase agreements at their face value is often not meaningful, particularly across jurisdictions or over time. Differences in support regimes and the market, tax, and regulatory environment can make a like-for-like comparison convoluted and result in misleading conclusions. Here, we estimate project revenue and value holistically for eight global offshore wind projects. Using a cash flow model, we consider applicable support regimes; market sales; and the monetized value of tax incentives, depreciation, and transmission. We find considerable variation in the absolute levels and relative composition of project revenue and value, which must be considered for deducting costs from procurement prices. The resulting metric enables decision makers and research to compare the total cost of procurement on an equal footing and supplements established cost metrics.

Automated summary

Comparing prices from competitive procurement of renewable energy projects may lead to misleading conclusions, as differences in project revenue and value must be considered. By using a cash flow model to evaluate factors such as support regimes, market sales, and tax incentives, decision makers and researchers can make more comprehensive comparisons of procurement costs.