Check it Out - Some assumptions and costs for Evaluation of Solar & Wind Potential!

Source: Load-Resource Balance in the Western Interconnection: Towards 2020 
Author: Ren Orans and Arne Olson
Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc.
101 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600
San Francisco, CA 94104
415-391-5100

 
Wind Resource Potential from NREL

GIS input for WinDSmodel
98 resource regions in WECC
Exclude cities, lakes, federal lands, >20% slopes
Use resource class (1-7) to calculate capacity factor
Generation costs (in 2008 $):
Installed capital cost:  $1634/kW for base plant (AWEA Wind Vision study)
Production tax credit:  1.9¢/kWh for 10 years
Levelized busbar cost range for all sites in supply curve: $65/MWh -$125/MWh

Other costs:
Interconnection (used NREL “assignment”method):  $1/MWh -18/MWh
Firming (assume 10% capacity on peak):  $19/MWh -$36/MWh
Integration (depends on region size and wind penetration):  $2/MWh -$12/MWh

Ren Orans and Arne Olson
Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc.
101 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600
San Francisco, CA 94104
415-391-5100