Most studies predict the cost of wind energy will continue to
fall through at least 2030, said national laboratory staffers in
a new report. The report, "The Past and Future Cost of Wind
Energy," released June 6, is a collaboration among workers from
the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, with assistance from European
researchers. The crux of the report is that while future trends,
drivers and constraints are difficult to predict, the cost of
wind-generated electricity will probably continue to decrease in
the coming decades. Onshore wind's levelized cost of energy, or
LCOE, fell by a factor of more than three between 1980 and 2000,
the researchers said. "However, beginning in about 2003 and
continuing through the latter half of the past decade, wind
power capital costs increased — driven by rising commodity and
raw materials prices, increased labor costs, improved
manufacturer profitability, and turbine upscaling — thus pushing
wind's LCOE upward in spite of c