TABLE 1

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Levelized Cost Estimates in 1993 cents/kWh

Technology/Year 1995 2000 2005 2010
Wind 5.3 4.1 3.9 3.5
Geothermal 5.2 4.0 3.8 3.7
Photovoltaic 21.8 16.4 13.1 8.7
Solar Thermal 10.5 8.6 8.1 8.1
Biomass 8.5 8.1 7.5 7.2

Data from Blair Swezey and Yih-huei Wan, The True Cost of Renewables: An Analytic Response to the Coal Industry's Attack on Renewable Energy (Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1995), 15, NREL/TP-462-20032. Available from National Technical Information Service at (703) 487-4650.

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