{ "as_of": "2026-09-17", "notation": "PV means discounted present value except where technology PV means photovoltaics. Schematic equations; named source conventions govern exact implementation.", "metrics": [ { "id": "lcoe", "name": "LCOE", "equation": "PV(capital + O&M + fuel + insurance + waste + dismantling - residual) / PV(net generated MWh)", "numerator": "Declared lifecycle generator expenditures, with financing either discounted dated cash flows OR capital-at-COD, never both.", "denominator": "Discounted net electricity at plant delivery boundary; actual curtailment and degradation reduce output.", "discounting": "Consistent real cash/real rate or nominal cash/nominal rate; gross resource version excludes subsidy credits. EIA investor version may deduct tax credits.", "valid_use": "Compare specified generator designs and finance assumptions; separate existing, extension and new build.", "misuse": "Ranking complete reliable Swiss systems or equating LCOE with electricity price.", "omissions": "No automatic price/profile value, adequacy, shared network cost, imports, reserve, external damages or market revenue.", "sources": [ "eia-lcoe-method-2026", "joskow-2011" ] }, { "id": "lfscoe-idel", "name": "LFSCOE, Idel formulation", "equation": "min_{generation,storage,dispatch} PV(declared generation + storage expenditures) / PV(demand served)", "numerator": "Optimal specified single generation class, or expressly allowed wind+solar mix, and storage meeting all modelled hours.", "denominator": "Discounted demand, not gross generation.", "discounting": "2021 inspectable manuscript: two investment years, operation years3–30; text6.7%, Table2caption6.5% conflict. Final2022 full methods not obtained.", "valid_use": "Reproducible stand-alone supply stress under named market/weather/cost assumptions.", "misuse": "Call original numbers complete costs of a diversified Swiss system; infer all integration costs included.", "omissions": "Inspectable baseline omits networks, stochastic forced outages/security backup, demand response, emissions cost, construction realism and storage replacement; loss sensitivities separate.", "sources": [ "idel-2021-author-preprint", "idel-2022-publisher" ] }, { "id": "lfscoe95", "name": "LFSCOE-95, 2021 manuscript", "equation": "Optimized declared cost / PV(demand supplied by tested resource and storage), with auxiliary energy <=5% annual demand", "numerator": "Tested resource/storage plus stated auxiliary-generation treatment; manuscript supplies auxiliary at USD18/MWh without a fully specified separate capacity/reliability model.", "denominator": "At least95% of annual energy supplied by tested resource, not total demand.", "discounting": "Same manuscript convention; distinct denominator and feasible set from100%case.", "valid_use": "Illustrate value of relaxing full single-source coverage and of dispatchable complements.", "misuse": "Treat95%as a reliability standard, five percent blackout hours, or free fully specified backup.", "omissions": "Not a complete mixed-technology capacity expansion model; manuscript excludes storage option for dispatchable95%cases.", "sources": [ "idel-2021-author-preprint" ] }, { "id": "lcos", "name": "LCOS", "equation": "PV(storage capex + O&M + replacements + charging + dismantling - residual) / PV(AC electricity discharged)", "numerator": "Storage lifetime service and, if explicitly included, purchased charging electricity.", "denominator": "Discounted usable AC discharged energy; duration, cycles, power and degradation stated.", "discounting": "Life and replacements explicit; energy costs dated; same money convention as rate.", "valid_use": "Compare storage delivering the same duty cycle and reliability service.", "misuse": "Compare with generator LCOE as though storage produces fuel-free net energy, or include charging twice in a portfolio.", "omissions": "Revenue, capacity value, feasible arbitrage prices, network constraints and warranty acceptance are not automatically included.", "sources": [ "eia-lcoe-method-2026", "nlr-atb-battery-2025" ] }, { "id": "system-lcoe", "name": "System LCOE, Ueckerdt et al.", "equation": "LCOE_i(E_i) + dC_integration(E_i)/dE_i", "numerator": "Marginal generation cost plus defined marginal integration cost relative to a residual-system counterfactual.", "denominator": "Marginal MWh of the technology under the original definition.", "discounting": "Annualized system model inputs; use same cost convention and reference across options.", "valid_use": "Marginal contribution at a specified mix/penetration; support optimum analysis.", "misuse": "Sum arbitrary integration adders or reuse low-penetration value at high deployment.", "omissions": "Depends on counterfactual and model scope; average and marginal versions differ.", "sources": [ "ueckerdt-2013", "matsuo-2022-publisher-pdf" ] }, { "id": "valcoe", "name": "VALCOE, IEA GEC2025", "equation": "LCOE_x + (E_average-E_x) + (C_average-C_x) + (F_average-F_x)", "numerator": "Per-MWh LCOE adjusted for energy, capacity and flexibility value relative to system averages.", "denominator": "Values already normalized per generated MWh; low-utilization capacity value can be large.", "discounting": "Underlying LCOE and modelled value conventions; not a measured invoice.", "valid_use": "Contextual competitiveness accounting for several services.", "misuse": "Call VALCOE all-in cost, investor profit, or a universal technology constant.", "omissions": "IEA explicitly omits network integration, unpriced environmental impacts and fuel-diversity security; model prices omit scarcity adders.", "sources": [ "iea-gec-method-2025" ] }, { "id": "lace", "name": "LACE / value-cost ratio, EIA", "equation": "Levelized modelled avoided energy and capacity value; competitiveness ratio = LACE / LCOE (or LCOS)", "numerator": "Modelled value of displacing energy and providing capacity over cost-recovery period.", "denominator": "Same discounted generation basis as cost metric for the stated resource; ratio dimensionless.", "discounting": "EIA2026 uses30-year recovery and after-tax WACC; US tax/policy choices not Swiss defaults.", "valid_use": "Cost together with modelled value in an identified system.", "misuse": "Assume ratio>1guarantees private profit under actual tariffs or fixed future prices.", "omissions": "Not complete real-world market rules, risks or consumer bills.", "sources": [ "eia-lcoe-2026-page", "eia-lcoe-method-2026" ] }, { "id": "portfolio", "name": "Discounted portfolio cost per common delivered demand", "equation": "PV(all future real resource expenditures + net imports - residual) / PV(same final delivered demand)", "numerator": "Whole mixed system under common feasibility contract; imports minus exports valued consistently and separately disclosed.", "denominator": "Same customer-meter demand across feasible portfolios; never improve ratio by dropping load.", "discounting": "Common social/planning real rate; owner financing evaluated separately. Common horizon with reinvestment and residual value.", "valid_use": "National alternatives meeting identical adequacy/emissions/delivery requirements.", "misuse": "Call a generation-cost sum an optimized system; mix wholesale settlement transfers with resource costs.", "omissions": "Only as complete as physical/cost inputs; no robust Swiss national result yet.", "sources": [ "ueckerdt-2013", "ercot-mix-2026-publisher-pdf", "prior-owner-model" ] }, { "id": "owner-npv", "name": "Owner NPV and financing feasibility", "equation": "PV(actual contracted/market revenues + support - all owner cash outflows)", "numerator": "Project cash flows, tax, capital, operations, maintenance, hedging, collateral, insurance and obligations.", "denominator": "None; cash amount. IRR secondary, with caution for non-conventional cash flows.", "discounting": "Risk-appropriate real or nominal project discount rate; no debt-service double count with WACC-based unlevered cash.", "valid_use": "Voluntary investability and risk-bearing, including hydro concessions.", "misuse": "Equate public subsidy or cheap guaranteed loan with disappearance of resource cost or risk.", "omissions": "Does not itself prove least national cost.", "sources": [ "bfe-lto-2026-background", "prior-owner-model" ] }, { "id": "bill", "name": "Customer bill", "equation": "Energy tariff + network tariff + taxes/levies + fixed fees - applicable credits", "numerator": "Payments under tariff and customer profile, including policy transfers.", "denominator": "Actual billed kWh only if presenting average unit bill.", "discounting": "Annual tariff observation or explicit lifetime bill model.", "valid_use": "Who pays and affordability for specified customer profiles.", "misuse": "Infer construction or generation costs from retail tariff or procurement strike price.", "omissions": "Payments need not equal physical resource expenditures in each year.", "sources": [ "bfe-reserve-ansaldo-2025", "eia-lcoe-method-2026" ] } ] }