Experience Curves for Operations and Maintenance Costs of Renewable Energy Technologies

Given the decline in investment costs for renewable energy technologies, other cost components have become increasingly important. In 2017, operations and maintenance (O&M) accounted for 20%-25% of lifecycle costs for wind and solar plants in Europe, but the understanding of O&M dynamics is limited. Presenting new data from Germany, here, we consider cumulative operating experience to estimate O&M experience curves for onshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV). Results indicate O&M cost reductions with each doubling of cumulative experience of 9.2%-12.8% for onshore wind and of 15.7%-18.2% for solar. Drawing on expert interviews and archival information, we describe mechanisms regarding how O&M experience led to lower costs, including economies of scale, upsizing, learning by doing, and learning by using and learning by interacting, comparing both technologies. Moreover, regulatory changes fostered competitive pressure toward cost reductions. Our results suggest that dynamic cost reduction potentials for O&M need to be considered in energy system planning, modeling, and optimization.