Levelized capital costs of electricity generation in the U.S. 2028, by source

In the United States, new offshore wind power-generating sites entering the grid in 2028 had estimated capital costs of 89.61 U.S. dollars per megawatt-hour, as of 2022 calculations. Advanced nuclear plants had an estimated cost of 62.17 dollars per megawatt-hour. The more difficult the initial construction of a power plant, the higher the associated capital costs. What are levelized capital costs? The levelized cost of energy (or LCOE) is a comparative indication of the financial viability of different forms of energy over a system’s lifetime. Capital costs are the one-time expenses of acquiring the land, equipment, and construction resources to start a project. A decrease in the cost of renewable energy technologies over the past decades was an important factor in the rapid expansion of these technologies. For example, the cost of solar PV electricity worldwide declined by more than 88 percent between 2010 and 2021. Harvesting wind from the sea Despite the higher capital costs of building wind turbines in bodies of water, the high economic potential for fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind technologies is nevertheless predicted off the Atlantic coast, particularly in New England. While U.S. investors and politicians have been relatively skeptical towards the establishment of offshore wind farms in the past, the Biden administration strengthened the offshore wind energy sector. As of 2022, the offshore wind capacity pipeline in the U.S. stood at more than 40 gigawatts.

在美国，截至2022年的计算，2028年入网的全新海上风力发电站预计资本成本为每兆瓦时89.61美元。先进核电站的预计成本为每兆瓦时62.17美元。电力设施的初始建设难度越大，相应的资本成本就越高。何为平准化资本成本？能源平准化成本（或称LCOE）是评估不同能源形式在系统寿命周期内财务可行性的比较指标。资本成本是指获取土地、设备和建设资源的单次性支出。过去几十年可再生能源技术成本的降低是这些技术快速扩张的重要因素。例如，全球太阳能光伏电力的成本在2010年至2021年间下降了超过88%。从海洋中获取风力资源 尽管在水中建设风力涡轮机的初始资本成本较高，但固定海底和浮式海上风力技术在美国大西洋沿岸，尤其是在新英格兰地区，仍被预测具有巨大的经济潜力。尽管美国投资者和政界人士过去对建立海上风电场持相对怀疑态度，但拜登政府加强了海上风电能源行业。截至2022年，美国海上风电装机容量管道已超过400吉瓦。