Projected Costs of Generating Electricity - OECD Nuclear Energy ...

At 10% discount rate, the levelised costs of wind generated electricity are significantly higher than at
5% discount rate owing to the predominant share of investment in the total. They range between 45 and
more than 140 USD/MWh.
Hydro power plants
Data were provided for eight hydro power plants in six countries. 1 The specific overnight construction
costs per unit of capacity reported (see Figure 4.5) vary widely, as may be expected, because hydro power
plant construction costs depend mainly on site specific characteristics. The expense schedules reported for
hydro power plants correspond to construction periods ranging from 1 to 5 years but in most cases most
of the expenses are incurred in less than 3 years.
Figure 4.5 – Specific overnight construction costs of hydro power plants (USD/kWe)
USD/kWe
7 000
6 000
5 000
4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000
0
AUT-H1
AUT-H2
CZE-H
DEU-H
GRC-H1
GRC-H2
SVK-H
JPN-H
The hydro power plants considered in the study are small or very small units, except the dam in Greece
(GRC-H2) which has a total capacity of some 120 MWe. The very high specific construction costs
reported for most of the hydro power plants considered in the study likely result from their small sizes,
although in Austria the specific construction costs reported are lower for the smaller unit.
The specific annual O&M costs reported for hydro power plants are given in Table 4.2. Similarly to the
construction costs they vary widely from plant to plant, even in the same country owing to the site specific
characteristics of hydro power. Except in the Czech Republic, O&M costs are projected to remain
constant during the lifetime of the plant.
Table 4.2 – Specific annual O&M costs (per kWe) for hydro power plants in 2010
AUT-H1 AUT-H2 CZE-H a DEU-H GRC-H1 GRC-H2 SVK-H JPN-H
NCU 44.82 19.18 1 389 58.80 78.80 3.00 1 577 14 837
USD 39.18 21.94 50.42 67.27 90.15 3.43 43.37 124.63
€ 44.82 19.18 44.07 58.80 78.80 3.00 37.91 108.94
a. Increasing over time.
1. Also, Bulgaria and the Republic of South Africa provided information on pumped storage facilities for which generation
costs cannot be estimated with the generic assumptions adopted within the study.
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