NREL has released its annual technology baseline on renewable energy technology cost
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released the 2018 Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), updating a key source of reliable electricity generation technology cost and performance data in the U.S.
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released the 2018 Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), updating a key source of reliable electricity generation technology cost and performance data used to support and inform electric sector analysis in the United States. Now in its fourth year, the ATB documents technology-specific information on a broad spectrum of electricity-generation technologies, including wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, biopower, coal, natural gas, and nuclear.
The ATB integrates current and projected data from various sources into a highly accessible and widely referenced resource for energy analysts. The 2018 ATB is available at atb.nrel.gov
“The Annual Technology Baseline synthesizes key sources of current and projected cost and performance data. It emphasizes development of projections for wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal technologies, and also includes biopower, coal, natural gas, and nuclear,” said Laura Vimmerstedt, NREL energy analyst. “Energy analysts turn to the ATB to understand the status, the trends, and the range of potential futures.”
New this year, the ATB includes financing assumptions that are specific to each technology and change over time. The different financing cases illustrate the distinction between technological and financial effects on the key metrics. The ATB provides three different levels of future technology cost and performance through 2050 to support analysis of future U.S. electric sector scenarios.
Source: NREL