Capital costs tend to be low for gas and oil power stations; moderate for onshore wind turbines and solar PV (photovoltaics); higher for coal plants and higher still for waste-to-energy, wave and tidal, solar thermal, offshore wind and nuclear.
Are wind turbines expensive?
Wind turbines, like any other investment, have direct costs in the form of capital and operational expenses. These costs can be aggregated to average discounted lifetime costs, called 'levelized energy costs' or 'levelized costs of electricity' (LCOE).
Integration costs for wind and solar energy are significant when deployed at large scale. In thermal systems, wind integration costs are approximately 25–35 €/MWh at 30–40% penetration, assuming a base price of 70 €/MWh. Integration costs account for 35–50% of generation costs.
The cost for a one-GW wind-to-solar system is 100,000, assuming a wind-to-solar ratio of 2:1 in energy terms. This corresponds to a 0% to 40% share of electricity generation from VRE (Variable Renewable Energy), which is a high estimate.
Onshore wind is typically more expensive than solar photovoltaics because solar is installed closer to consumers, resulting in lower grid-related costs. Onshore wind, in turn, is closer than offshore wind, but its higher installation costs make it more expensive than solar.
What is the cost of wind power?
The cost of wind power is below 2 €/MWh, according to all estimates. However, for every percentage point increase in market share, the balancing costs of wind power increase by 0.06 €/MWh. The balancing costs rise from 2 €/MWh to 4 €/MWh as wind penetration increases from zero to 40%.
By 2017, the cost of photovoltaic solar power had decreased to less than €50/MWh. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems publishes studies comparing the cost of different styles of energy production. The values for PV installations are based on the average cost between Northern and Southern Germany.