Low carbon transition is a multifaceted challenge involving political, technical and economic elements. Denmark has developed economic models to optimize decision-making in our energy system in order to secure continued competitiveness for the Danish society. Low carbon transition does not hinder the formation of prosperity and wealth. Since 1990, Denmark has reduced energy consumption by 7% and CO2 emissions by more than 30%, while the economy has grown with more than 40%.
Investments in new power generation or energy efficiency technologies are important long-term decisions locking in both private and public spending and climate impacts for decades. Low initial investments do not necessarily mean a cheap energy supply or low energy demand for society. Quality, security and externalities are of great importance. As part of Denmark’s international cooperation, the Danish Energy Agency has developed a Levelized Cost of Energy Calculator - LCoE Calculator - to assess the average lifetime costs of providing one kWh for a range of power production and energy efficiency technologies. This tool will help governments compare and select the optimal technologies in the future national energy supply and demand.
The LCoE Calculator is a tool to estimate and compare the socio-economic electricity production costs in a simplified manner using localized data and estimates. The LCoE Calculator is based on internationally acknowledged methodology and permits comparison of different electricity production technologies based on nuclear, fossil or renewable energy as well as a number of high-potential energy efficiency technologies. The LCoE Calculator consist of an Excel based model and a manual discussing different aspects and data needed for socio-economic calculation of different power generation and energy efficiency options including possible data sources.
The LCoE Calculator is being updated on an ongoing basis with the latest techno-economic assumptions as described in the Technology Data by the Danish Energy Agency. Fuel prices and CO2 prices are not issued within Technology Data and are based on IEA scenarios of the time of setting up the calculator in 2014.
