2023 Electricity ATB Technologies and Data Overview

The 2023 Electricity ATB provides consistent, freely available, technology-specific cost and performance parameters across a range of R&D advancements scenarios, resource characteristics, and sites for electricity-generating technologies, both at present and with projections through 2050. Two sets of financial assumptions are available: the Market + Policies case includes some effects of the Inflation Reduction Act, and the R&D Only case case (shown here) does not. The performance parameters in the Electricity ATB include:

Capital expenditures (CAPEX)
Operation and maintenance (O&M) expenditures
Capacity factors
Levelized cost of energy (LCOE), a summary metric for electricity-generating technologies.

Use the charts and table below to explore ranges, projections, and a summary of ATB data. Interact with the chart by selecting parameters. Or explore the meaning of the data by selecting the black arrow next to "Click arrow to explore details." You can also download 2023 ATB data.

LCOE ranges

Click the black arrow next to "click arrow to explore details" in the upper right to select parameters, including CAPEX, O&M, or capacity factor.

LCOE is a summary metric with important limitations. See definitions for LCOE, CAPEX, capacity factor, O&M, OCC, CFC, GCC, financial cases, and all other terms used in the ATB.

Cost and performance are summarized by technology for the year specified. For details, see the Representative Technology section of each technology page (e.g., Land-Based Wind: Representative Technology). Monetary values are in 2021$.

The ATB develops original data for renewable technologies, and it relies on AEO2023 (EIA, 2023) for nuclear, and biopower plants, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management for coal and natural gas plants. Orange bars reflect the representative ATB plant characteristics, and blue bars represent the full range in the ATB. See technology detail for additional information.

CC: combined cycle; CCS: carbon capture and storage; CSP: concentrating solar power; CT: combustion turbine; DW: distributed wind; EGS: enhanced geothermal systems; IGCC: integrated gasification combined cycle; NF: near-field; NSD: new stream-reach development; NPD: non-powered dam; PC: pulverized coal; PV: solar photovoltaics; TES: thermal energy storage

LCOE projections

Click the black arrow next to "click arrow to explore details" in the upper right to select parameters, including CAPEX, O&M, or capacity factor.

LCOE is a summary metric with important limitations. See definitions for LCOE, CAPEX, capacity factor, O&M, and financial cases.

The ATB develops original data for renewable technologies, and it relies on AEO2023 (EIA, 2023) for nuclear and biopower plants, and the DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management for coal and natural gas plants.

CC: combined cycle; CCS: carbon capture and storage; CSP: concentrating solar power; CT: combustion turbine; EGS: enhanced geothermal systems; IGCC: integrated gasification combined cycle; MWh: megawatt-hour; NF: near-field; NSD: new stream-reach development; NPD: non-powered dam; PC: pulverized coal; TES: thermal energy storage

Summary of Minimum and Maximum Values of CAPEX, Capacity Factor, O&M and LCOE

Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is a summary metric with important limitations. See definitions for LCOE, CAPEX, capacity factor, FCR, O&M, and financial cases.

Here, 2023 ATB cost and performance are summarized by technology for the year specified. For details, see the Representative Technology section of each technology page. Monetary values are in 2020$. The ATB develops original data for renewable technologies, and it relies on AEO2023 (EIA, 2023) for nuclear and biopower plants, and the DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management for coal and natural gas plants.

CC: combined cycle; CCS: carbon capture and storage; CSP: concentrating solar power; CT: combustion turbine; EGS: enhanced geothermal systems; IGCC: integrated gasification combined cycle; NF: near-field; NSD: new stream-reach development; MMBtu: million British thermal units; NPD: non-powered dam; PC: pulverized coal; TES: thermal energy storage

Assumptions

The figures and table illustrate the selected data dimensions, which are developed using the assumptions described briefly here; follow the links provided for additional information.

Representative Technologies and Parameters

The specifics of representative technologies, parameter definitions, historical trends, base year estimates, and future projections used in the ATB are described on the respective technology page (e.g., Land-Based Wind). Links to definitions (e.g., LCOE) provide information that applies to all technologies

The levelized cost of energy is a summary metric that combines capital expenditures (CAPEX), operations expenditures (O&M), capacity factor, and projections for "conservative", "moderate", and "advanced" technology advancement scenarios. See levelized cost of energy for information about important limitations of LCOE.

Select a link in the table below to jump to the technology-specific description of each parameter.

Links to Technology-Specific Documentation of CAPEX, O&M, Capacity Factor, and Representative Technology

CAPEX	O&M	Capacity Factor	Representative Technology
Land-Based Wind	Land-Based Wind	Land-Based Wind	Land-Based Wind
Offshore Wind	Offshore Wind	Offshore Wind	Offshore Wind
Utility-Scale PV	Utility-Scale PV	Utility-Scale PV	Utility-Scale PV
Commercial PV	Commercial PV	Commercial PV	Commercial PV
Residential PV	Residential PV	Residential PV	Residential PV
CSP	CSP	CSP	CSP
Geothermal	Geothermal	Geothermal	Geothermal
Hydropower	Hydropower	Hydropower	Hydropower
Utility-Scale PV-Plus-Battery	Utility-Scale PV-Plus-Battery	Utility-Scale PV-Plus-Battery	Utility-Scale PV-Plus-Battery
Utility-Scale Battery Storage	Utility-Scale Battery Storage	Utility-Scale Battery Storage	N/A
Commercial Battery Storage	Commercial Battery Storage	Commercial Battery Storage	N/A
Residential Battery Storage	Residential Battery Storage	Residential Battery Storage	N/A
Pumped Storage Hydropower	Pumped Storage Hydropower	N/A	N/A
Natural Gas	Natural Gas	N/A	N/A
Coal	Coal	N/A	N/A

Technology Innovation Scenarios

The ATB provides original technology advancement scenarios for renewable electricity-generating technologies. The Conservative, Moderate, and Advanced scenarios that appear in tables and figures refer to a range of assumptions about technology advancement and associated cost and performance. For reference, the ATB provides natural gas, coal, nuclear, and biopower data.

Financial Assumptions Cases

Financial assumptions impact LCOE by changing the cost of capital to finance electricity generation projects. Two project finance structures are used within the ATB: a R&D Only Financial Assumptions Case (R&D Only case) and a Market + Policies Financial Assumptions Case (Market + Policies Case). Independent power producer financing structure is assumed.

Year

The ATB includes estimates (for the base year) and projections (for the projected years) for each technology. Projections are based on trend lines between historical data and long-term (2030 and 2050) estimated costs. For most technologies, the base year (2021) is the final year of historical data. Near-term values in the ATB do not reflect every local or near-term market condition, nor are the longer-term ATB projections informed by recent changes.

Cost Recovery Period

The ATB displays three cost recovery period options: 20 years, 30 years, and technical life.

Technology

Each of the technology-specific pages (e.g., Land-Based Wind) describes the assumptions and methodologies used to develop the data for that technology.

Technology Detail

Technology detail indicates resource level and specific technology subcategories.

Methodology

Refer to ATB Approach and Methodology, 2023 for details about the methods used to develop the cost and performance projections.

Limitations

Refer to the disclaimer agreement and this guide to technical limitations.

References

The following references are specific to this page; for all references in this ATB, see References.

EIA. “Annual Energy Outlook 2023.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. Energy Information Administration, March 2023. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/.