KiloNewton, Agenda LLC, and RePower New Mexico Team Up for New White Paper on LCOE in the USA
/Commissioned by Agenda, LLC and RePower New Mexico, KiloNewton conducted a comparison of wind and solar energy costs to enable companies to make more informed location decisions based on renewable energy needs and specifically discuss New Mexico’s results.
While analyses of wind and solar capacities in the US have been around for decades, none have focused on directly comparing real levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for wind and solar on a state-by-state basis. KiloNewton analyzed the LCOE for favorable power plant sites located in each of the lower 48 contiguous states and derived generation portfolios to determine the lowest blended cost location for wind and solar electricity. Each state was evaluated using localized variables, including resource, land and construction labor costs, state income and sales taxes, and local environmental losses. The results presented in this report show that for a 50% solar/50% wind generation portfolio, New Mexico has the lowest cost of renewable electricity in the U.S. at the grid interconnection point, at 19.79% below the national average.
