Levelized cost is held at the target. Move any parameter and the unlocked ones move toward their limits to compensate. When every unlocked parameter reaches its limit, the target is out of reach.
Target LCOE
1.00¢/kWh
Plant and finance parameters
Drag a slider, or use the arrow keys. The lock holds a parameter at its value while the others compensate. Cost of capital and plant life start locked at 7% and 30 years, the 1cFE reference finance case.
Limit: the most ambitious value allowedOut of reach, even with every other unlocked parameter at its limit
Where the budget goes
How much ambition is used
Each axis runs from the relaxed end of its range at the centre to its limit at the rim. The dashed shape is the least ambition each parameter needs, with every other unlocked parameter at its limit.
Current settingMinimum needed
What each step is worth
The capital cost, in $/kW, that each change would pay for at the current point while LCOE stays the same.
Cost surface
LCOE across two parameters, with the rest at their current values. Drag on the surface to move both; the unlocked parameters rebalance and the surface redraws.
¼×target4×LCOE equals the target, other parameters as setEnvelope edge: other unlocked parameters at their limitsOutside the envelopeCurrent point
How the arithmetic works
Single-plant screening arithmetic in constant 2025 dollars. For each kW of net output:
E = 8.76 × CF MWh per kW-year
CRF = r / (1 − (1 + r)^−life)
IDC = ((1 + r)^T − 1) / (T × ln(1 + r)) even spending over T years
SFF = r / ((1 + r)^N − 1) replacement every N years
LCOE = C × (CRF × IDC + s × SFF) / (E × (1 − f))
+ F / E + V
C is capital cost per kW of gross electric output; f is the recirculating fraction, so net output is gross × (1 − f). Engineering gain QE is 1/f.
F is fixed O&M per kW of net output per year; V is variable O&M and fuel per MWh.
Replacements recur every N years at share s of the original capital cost for the life of the plant, annualized as a sinking fund.
Compensation is shared evenly: every unlocked parameter moves the same fraction of its remaining travel toward its limit, or back toward its relaxed end when there is slack.
Check: $1,000/kW at 7% real, 30 years and 95% capacity factor, with no construction interest, O&M, recirculation or replacements, gives 0.97¢/kWh.
Excluded: taxes, decommissioning, land, fuel-price risk, grid and firming costs, and revenue from heat or other products. For a full plant model, use 1costingFE.
The limits are screening assumptions chosen for this tool. They are neither forecasts nor engineering floors. Change them here and the envelope redraws.
Edit limits
Parameter
Low end
High end
Unit
Limit at
Reference marks on the sliders are from EIA, Capital Cost and Performance Characteristics for Utility-Scale Electric Power Generating Technologies (AEO2025), Table 1-2, in 2023 dollars: combined cycle $868 to $921/kW, fixed O&M $12.12 to $15.51/kW-yr, variable O&M $3.33 to $3.41/MWh excluding fuel; two AP1000 units $7,861/kW, $156.20/kW-yr and $2.52/MWh. Those are per kW of net output; the capital slider is per kW of gross output.
The starting point is illustrative. On load and on reset, the tool solves capital cost so that LCOE equals the target.