DATA METHODOLOGY

Table of Contents

Introduction to IRENA REsource Data and Statistics Page .......................................................................... 3

Methodology: Renewable Energy Power ................................................................................................... 4
Methodology: Renewable Energy Education.............................................................................................. 7
Methodology: Renewable Energy Employment ......................................................................................... 8
Methodology: Levelised Cost of Electricity ............................................................................................... 13

Last updated on 18 May 2015

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Introduction to IRENA REsource Data and Statistics Page

IRENA REsource
IRENA, as the global voice of renewable energy, has launched REsource, a freely accessible online
knowledge platform that dynamically captures and illustrates renewable energy growth patterns. By
linking to IRENA’s full knowledge library, REsource provides information on renewable energy market
statistics, potentials, policies, finance, costs, benefits, innovations, technologies, education and other
topics.

REsource aims to improve decision-making, increase public awareness, promote investor confidence,
and accelerate the overall deployment of renewable energy technologies.

The data and statistics page displays the latest renewable energy data available at IRENA. Data is
currently aggregated under four different topics, each of which is presented on a different ‘data
dashboard’:
1. Renewable Energy Capacity
2. Renewable Energy Education
3. Renewable Energy Employment
4. Renewable Energy Levelised Cost of Electricity

This document provides information about the methodology behind the data dashboards in IRENA
REsource.

Download of Data
IRENA collects data from different sources, including member states, international organisations, local
and regional organisations, specialized data providers such as associations, etc., or makes informed
estimates based on analysis. Since some of the information is collected from external sources, IRENA
does not own the rights to distribute all the data in raw format. Therefore, the data is only available in
aggregated graphical format.

Frequency of Data Update

The last date of the data update is specified in the respective dashboard methodology section. The
Renewable Energy Capacity and Renewable Energy Education dashboards read from IRENA’s internal
databases and will be updated on an ad-hoc basis during the year. The Renewable Energy Employment
and Levelised Cost of Electricity dashboards are created as a result of intensive research and analysis and
data updates are tied to IRENA’s publication cycle.

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Methodology: Renewable Energy Power

Scope
The Renewable Energy Capacity data in IRENA REsource represent the maximum net capacity of power
plants and systems that use renewable energy sources to produce electricity.

According to the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics, maximum net electrical capacity
is the maximum active power that can be supplied continuously, with all plants running, at the point of
outlet (i.e., after taking the power supplies for the station auxiliaries and allowing for the losses in those
transformers considered integral to the station). This assumes no restriction of interconnection to the
network. It does not include overload capacity that can only be sustained for a short period of time (e.g.,
internal combustion engines momentarily running above their rated capacity). The maximum net
electricity-generating capacity represents the sum of all individual plants’ maximum capacities available
to run continuously throughout a prolonged period of operation in a day.

A power plant with an installed capacity of 1 megawatt (MW) produces 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of
electricity if running at full capacity for one hour.

For most countries and technologies, the figures reported reflect the cumulative capacity installed at the
end of the calendar year and include only those projects that are connected. In some cases however, the
reported capacity may also include projects that are completed but not yet connected.

Technology and Sub-Technology Notes

 Hydropower refers to the potential and kinetic energy of water converted into electricity in
hydroelectric plants. Hydropower capacity data include pumped storage.
 Bioenergy covers the energy derived from organic, non-fossil material of biological origin
(biofuels), which can be used for the generation of heat or electricity. Bioenergy is generated
from three types of biofuel - solid biomass, biogas and liquid biofuels - where these are defined
as follows:
o Solid biomass includes products such as wood or agricultural waste, as well as municipal
waste. It also includes any solid biomass used in co-firing with fossil fuels.
o Biogas incudes gases arising from the anaerobic fermentation of biomass and the
gasification of solid biomass (including biomass in wastes). It includes landfill gas, sewage
sludge gas and other biogases.
o Liquid biofuels are liquids derived from biomass and used as fuels. They include
bioethanol, biodiesels and vegetable oils used directly as fuel.
 Solar energy is solar radiation exploited for electricity generation and hot water production.
Solar capacity data include solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP).
 Wind energy is the kinetic energy of wind exploited for electricity generation by wind turbines.
Wind capacity data include onshore wind and offshore wind.
 Geothermal energy is the energy available as heat emitted from within the earth's crust, usually
in the form of hot water or steam. Geothermal capacity data do not include heat pumps.

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  Tide, wave and ocean energy is mechanical energy derived from tidal movement, wave motion
or ocean current and exploited for electricity generation. Ocean energy capacity data include
devices used for testing purposes whose lifetime ranges from a few months to a few years.

Geographical Notes
Data for countries do not include data for associated overseas territories unless specifically noted below:
 “Rest of the world” includes countries and territories that are not members of the United
Nations.
 France excludes the following departments and territories: Guadeloupe, French Guiana,
Martinique, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Réunion, and St. Pierre and Miquelon.
 Japan includes Okinawa.
 Norway includes Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands.
 Portugal includes the Açores and Madeira.
 Spain includes the Canary Islands.
 China excludes Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (China, Hong Kong SAR), Macao
Special Administrative Region of China (China, Macao SAR) and Chinese Taipei.
 Israel includes East Jerusalem.
 Serbia includes Montenegro until 2006.

Data for regions are aggregated as follows:

 Africa includes Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde,
the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote
d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius,
Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, the
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, the United
Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
 Asia includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea,
Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar,
Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.
 Central America and the Caribbean includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti,
Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
 Eurasia includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation and Turkey.
 Europe includes Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

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  The Middle East includes Bahrain, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
 North America includes Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.
 Oceania includes Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of),
Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and
Vanuatu.
 South America includes Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).

Data Collection
The data presented here come from a variety of sources. Most of the data are official statistics submitted
by countries to IRENA using the IRENA renewable energy statistics questionnaire during its annual data
collection cycle or taken from official publications.

Where official statistics are unavailable, the statistics are supplemented with IRENA estimates or third
party data such as that from industry associations.

Comments on the data and suggestions for additional data sources should be sent to
[email protected].

Last data update: April 2015

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Methodology: Renewable Energy Education

Background
The IRENA Renewable Energy Learning Partnership (IRELP) was established in April 2012 to raise
awareness of, and access to, renewable energy educational opportunities and resources worldwide.
IRELP contains four databases, available through www.irena.org/irelp, including renewable energy
courses and programmes, webinars, training guides and manuals, and internships.

Data Collection
The IRELP databases contain over 2,500 renewable energy courses and degree programmes, 120
internship opportunities, 700 webinars and 220 training guides as of December 2014. Approximately 70
percent of the information found within IRELP has been gathered through IRENA desk research.
Approximately 20 percent of the content has been sourced through IRELP’s 22 partner organisations,
including regional centres, training institutes and industry associations. The remainder of the content on
IRELP has been added by volunteer members of the IRELP Global Network, who have been trained to
search and upload related content to the IRELP databases.

Data Verification
All data that is sourced externally is verified by IRENA prior to being published on the IRELP website.
When a course or programme is added to the IRELP database, an automatic email will contact the training
provider. This email includes the record link on the IRELP website and invites training providers to send
comments or feedback on their respective records. While IRENA makes all efforts to ensure the accuracy
and completeness of content shared through IRELP, content is provided “as is”, without any conditions,
warranties or other terms of any kind.

Data Content
Education data that is referenced on REsource only includes records currently published on IRELP. The
information in the IRELP databases is updated regularly, however, IRENA is not liable should the content
be incomplete or out of date. Suggestions for inclusion may be sent to [email protected].

Liability
IRENA is not responsible for any kind of loss or damage resulting from use of the information provided
on IRELP or through links to third-party content. IRENA does not endorse and shall not be held
responsible or liable for any content, products or services on or available from such websites or
material. Any dealings between IRELP users and third party training providers found on or via IRELP are
made between the user and the relevant provider. Therefore, IRENA is not responsible or liable for any
loss or damage of any kind incurred as the result of any such dealings.

Last data update: April 2015

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Methodology: Renewable Energy Employment
Content
Employment data in IRENA REsource depicts the status of renewable energy employment at the time of
the publication of IRENA’s latest Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review, which is released in May
and updated every year. The database includes direct employment, indirect employment when available
and induced employment is excluded1. This may lead to underestimation since some of the data sources
only report direct employment, with indirect employment excluded. Please see the section below on Key
Definitions for explanation of direct, indirect and induced jobs.

Data Collection and Validation

The renewable energy employment data consists of a mix of primary and secondary data. Primary data
are collected through government entities (e.g. ministries, statistical agencies) and industry
representatives. Secondary data are referenced from a wide range of regional and global studies (see
section on Sources of Data below). The underlying methodologies in these studies vary; inevitably, the
different sources are often uneven in detail and quality.

Once data are received, a process of judgment and validation involving both IRENA staff and external
experts takes place. If there are differences between the data reported by government entities and
secondary sources, priority is usually given to the former. Judgement on which numbers to choose also
depends on available information from the industry and relevant trends in policy, deployment or
investment in different countries.

Limitations
The datasets provide an initial estimate of renewable energy employment at a global scale. However,
gaps remain in data for certain countries and certain technologies within countries. A major cause for
these gaps is that renewable energy is not singled out as a sector in the national economic, trade or
labour statistics, mainly because: 1) it is still a relatively new industry and 2) it is a cross-cutting industry
that encompasses different economic subsectors.

In addition, the availability of up-to-date information on renewable energy employment is an important

limiting factor. The figures included in this database range primarily from 2011 to 2013. It should also be
noted that the lack of data reported on any one technology/country is often indicative of a data gap
rather than the absence of renewable energy jobs.

In an effort to continuously improve the employment database, comments and suggestions for data
sources should be sent to [email protected]. In parallel, IRENA is also working on various estimation
methodologies to improve the quality of the employment figures to generate a more uniform data set.
Finally, it should be noted that while IRENA strives to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data,
content is provided “as is”, without any conditions, warranties or other terms of any kind.

1Exclusion of induced employment can sometimes be difficult due to lack of clear and consistent boundaries between different types of
employment.

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Notes on Specific Technologies
Some general notes on the employment data for renewable energy technologies are given below.
Notes on specific country data for each technology are shown on each graph.
 Geothermal Energy: Includes power and heat applications. Geothermal employment data is only
available for the United States and the European Union. The figure for “All World” is estimated
using employment factors. For Europe, it is assumed that what EurObserv'ER reports as "heat
pumps" is entirely geothermal energy.
 Hydropower: Employment information for large-scale hydropower is incomplete, and therefore
the data relates only to small hydropower. Although 10 MW is often used as a threshold,
definitions are inconsistent across countries. In addition, employment data for small hydropower
has not been found for major countries such as China, Malaysia and Indonesia etc.. Therefore
the global total for small hydropower is based on a simple employment factor estimate based on
data from United States and Europe.
 Solid Biomass: The data includes power and heat applications. Though traditional biomass
accounts for a large number of people employed, it has not been included due to the
predominantly informal2 nature of the jobs involved and the related poor and scattered data.
 Ocean Energy: Very little information is available for this technology. Employment numbers
remain small in comparison with other renewable energy technologies.

The global employment for “All World” is calculated by adding the individual totals of the technologies.

Key Definitions
The definitions for direct, indirect and induced employment are included here. For more details please
refer to the Renewable Energy and Jobs report.
 Direct employment refers to employment that is generated directly by core renewable energy
activities, without taking into account the intermediate inputs necessary to manufacture
renewable energy equipment or construct and operate facilities.
 Indirect employment includes the employment in upstream industries that supply and support
the core activities of renewable energy deployment. Usually, these workers produce steel,
plastics or other materials, or they provide financial and other services.
 Induced employment encompasses jobs beyond the renewable energy industry and its
upstream industries, such as jobs in the consumer goods industry. When people who are
employed directly or indirectly in the renewable energy sector spend their incomes on a variety
of items in the broader economy, the expenditure could result in induced economic activity and
associated employment effects. Similarly, changes in energy costs for final consumers due to
higher/lower costs of renewables could also give rise to induced employment impacts as the
disposable income of the consumer changes.

Last data update: May 2014

2
Employees are considered to have informal jobs if their employment relationship is, in law or in practice, not subject to national labour
legislation, income taxation, social protection or entitlement to certain employment benefits (advance notice of dismissal, severance pay, paid
annual or sick leave, etc.).

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Sources of Data
The source of each data point is indicated in REsource. A bibliography is provided below:

ADDCP (Association of District Development Committees of Nepal) (2009), “Decentralized Rural Energy
Development in Nepal”. Proceedings of National Conference held in Kathmandu, 22-23 January 2009.

Alencar, C. A. (2013), “Solar Heating & Cooling Market in Brazil”, presentation at Intersolar Munich.

APPA (Association of Renewable Energy Producers - Spain) (2013), “Study of the Macroeconomic Impact
of Renewable Energies in Spain in 2012”, Madrid.

AWEA (American Wind Energy Association) (2014), “US Wind Industry Annual Market Report 2013”,
Washington, DC.

Barua, D. (2014), “Financial and social benefits of building energy lending program. Bangladesh Success
Story”, 20 January 2014, Abu Dhabi.

Berrío Vélez, M., (2013), “Biocombustibles, la otra energía”, article in newspaper “El Mundo” Colombia,
citing “Federación Nacional de Biocombustibles de Colombia”, accessed 27 March, 2014.

Bezdek, R. (2007), “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Economic Drivers for the 21st Century”.
Boulder, CO: American Solar Energy Society.

Biomass Power Association (n.d), “About Biomass”, http://biomasspowerassociation.com.

BMFLUW (Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft) (2012),
“Erneuerbare Energien in Zahlen. Die Entwicklung erneuerbarer Energien in Österreich im Jahr 2012”,
(Vienna, Austria, December 2013).

CEC (Clean Energy Council) Australia (2011), “Clean Energy Australia Report 2011”,
http://cleanenergyaustraliareport.com.au/data-sheets/;
http://cleanenergyaustraliareport.com.au/money-talk/renewable-energy-jobs/.

CEEW (2014) “IISD GSI Project: Assessing Green Industrial Policy. The India experience”, CEEW India.

CNREC (China National Renewable Energy Centre) (2014), email correspondence with IRENA.

De Almeida, E.F., J.V. Bomtempo and C.M. De Souza e Silva (2007), “The Performance of Brazilian
Biofuels: An Economic, Environmental and Social Analysis”, Joint Transport Research Centre Discussion
Paper No. 2007-5, International Transport Forum, OECD, Paris.

EurObserv'ER (2013), “The State of Renewable Energies in Europe 2013”, Observatoire des Énergies
Renouvelables, Paris.

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GHK (2010), “Estimating Green Jobs in Bangladesh”. A GHK report for the ILO (London, June 2010).

GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation) (2012), “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in
Tunisia - Employment, Qualification and Economic Effects”, Tunis, December 2012.

Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) (2010), “Global Wind Report 2010”, April 2011.

GWEC and Greenpeace International (2012), “Global Wind Energy Outlook 2012”,
www.gwec.net/publications/global-wind-energy-out-look/global-wind-energy-outlook-2012/.

IEA PVPS (Co-operative Programme on PV Power Systems) (2013), “Trends 2013 in Photovoltaic
Application: Survey Report of Selected IEA Countries between 1992 and 2012”, Paris, 2013.

IEA Wind (International Energy Agency Wind) (2013), “IEA Wind 2012 Annual Report” (Paris, July 2013),
International Energy Agency Implementing Agreement for Co-operation in the Research, Development,
and Deployment of Wind Energy Systems - IEA Wind.

INTPOW (2010), “Renewable Energy and the Hydropower Value Chain”,

www.intpow.no/index.php?id=1091&download=1.

IUES (Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies) and CASS (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences),
(2010), “Study on Low Carbon Development and Green Employment in China”, Beijing: ILO Office for
China and Mongolia, April 2010.

Jennejohn, D. (2010), “Green Jobs Through Geothermal Energy. Geothermal Energy Association”.
Washington, DC. October 2010.

Liu, M. (2014), Communication with Liu Minghui of Chinese Wind Energy Association, Courtesy of Janet
Sawin, REN21, 28 February 2014.

LMC International (2013), “The Economic Impact of the Biodiesel Industry on the U.S. Economy”, Study
for National Biodiesel Board, November 2013.

GEA (Geothermal Energy Association) (2014), Communication with Benjamin Matek, Geothermal Energy
Association, 7 March 2013 and 4 March 2014.

MINMINAS (Ministerio de Minas y Energía de Colombia), (2013), Communication with IRENA focal point
- citing information from Asocaña Colombia.

MME (Ministerio de Minas e Energia) and EPE (Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica) (2013), “Plano Decenal
de Expansão de Energie 2022”, Brasilia, www.epe.gov.br/PDEE/20140124_1.pdf.

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MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) and CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), 2010.
“Human Resource Development Strategies for Indian Renewable Energy Sector” Final Report. New Delhi,
October 2010.

MTE/RAIS (Ministry of Labor and Employment) / (Annual Report of Social Information) (2014), “Annual
List of Social Information. Database including active and inactive employments for sugarcane cultivation
and alcohol manufacturing”, accessed March 2014.

Muro, M., et al. (2011), “Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment”,
Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program, 2011.

Navigant (2009), “Job Creation Opportunities in Hydropower”. Final Report presented to National
Hydropower Association. 20 September 2009.

O'Sullivan, M., et al. (2014), “Gross employment from renewable energy sources in Germany in 2013 - a
first assessment [Bruttobeschäftigung durch erneuerbare Energien in Deutschland im Jahr 2013 - eine
erste Abschätzung]”.

RAA (REC Agents Association) Australia (2014), “Impact of Abolishing the Renewable Energy Target on
Jobs in the Australian Solar Industry”.

renewableUK (2013), “Working for a Green Britain and Northern Ireland 2013-23. Employment in the UK
Wind & Marine Energy Industries”, September 2013.

RSA (Republic of South Africa) (2012), “Renewable Energy IPP Procurement Programme. Window Two
Preferred Bidders' Announcement”, 21 May 2012.

Santos Pizzol, C.C., (2011), “Projeção Do Crescimento Do Mercado Brasileiro para as Pequenas Centrais
Hidrelétricas (PCH´s)” (Growth Projection of the Brazilian Market for Small Hydro Power Plants), Master's
Thesis, Federal University of Itajubá, Brazil.

Simas, M. and Pacca, S. (2014). “Assessing employment in renewable energy technologies: A case study
for wind power in Brazil”. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 31, pp. 83-90.
doi:10.1016/j.rser.2013.11.046.

Solar Foundation (2014), “National Solar Jobs Census 2013. The Annual Review of the U.S. Solar
Workforce”, Washington, DC.

Urbanchuk J. M., (2012), “Contribution of Biofuels to the Global Economy”, Prepared for Global
Renewable Fuels Association, 3 May 2012.
Urbanchuk, J. M., (2013), “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States”,
Renewable Fuels Association, 31 January 2013.

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Methodology: Levelised Cost of Electricity

Scope
The Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of renewable energy technologies varies by technology, country
and project, based on the renewable energy resource, capital and operating costs, and the
efficiency/performance of the technology. The approach used in the analysis presented here is based on
a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. This method of calculating the cost of renewable energy
technologies is based on discounting financial flows (annual, quarterly or monthly) to a common basis,
taking into consideration the time value of money. Given the capital-intensive nature of most renewable
power generation technologies and the fact that fuel costs are low, or often zero, the weighted average
cost of capital (WACC), often also referred to as the discount rate, used to evaluate the project has a
critical impact on the LCOE.

Modelling Approach
There are many potential trade-offs to be considered when developing an LCOE modelling approach. The
approach taken here is relatively simplistic, given the fact that the model needs to be applied to a wide
range of technologies in different countries and regions. However, this has the additional advantage that
the analysis is transparent and easy to understand. In addition, more detailed LCOE analyses result in a
significantly higher overhead in terms of the granularity of assumptions required. This often gives the
impression of greater accuracy, but when it is not possible to robustly populate the model with
assumptions, or to differentiate assumptions based on real world data, then the “accuracy” of the
approach can be misleading.

The formula used for calculating the LCOE of renewable energy technologies is:

𝐼𝑡 + 𝑀𝑡 + 𝐹𝑡
∑𝑛𝑡=1
(1 + 𝑟)𝑡
𝐿𝐶𝑂𝐸 =
𝐸𝑡
∑𝑛𝑡=1
(1 + 𝑟)𝑡

Where:
LCOE = the average lifetime levelised cost of electricity generation;
It = investment expenditures in the year t;
Mt = operations and maintenance expenditures in the year t;
Ft = fuel expenditures in the year t;
Et = electricity generation in the year t;
r = discount rate; and
n = life of the system.

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Data Collection
All costs presented are real 2014 USD; that is to say, after inflation has been taken into account unless
otherwise stated. The LCOE is the price of electricity required for a project where revenues would equal
costs, including making a return on the capital invested equal to the discount rate. An electricity price
above this would yield a greater return on capital, while a price below it would yield a lower return on
capital, or even a loss. The data required for the calculation of the LCOE are based on real-world projects
contained within the IRENA Renewable Cost Database. The database contains around 9 000 utility-scale
projects for which good data are available and a further 6 000 projects, where some data is missing (i.e.
capacity factor) and is calculated or assumed based on location or the weighted average in the database
for that location. In addition, the database contains around 740 000 data points for small-scale residential
solar PV systems.

Different cost measures are useful in different situations, the LCOE of renewable energy technologies is
a widely used measure by which renewable energy technologies can be evaluated for modelling or policy
development. It is, however, not the only metric that can be used to evaluate and compare the costs of
renewable energy technologies. Importantly, the LCOE is not an evaluation of the tariff required, as a
more detailed DCF approaches taking into account taxation, subsidies and other incentives would be
required by renewable energy project developers to assess the profitability of real world projects. This
depends on their individual circumstances and market and are beyond the scope of any analysis by
IRENA.

Last data update: April 2015

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