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GenCost 2024-25 Consultation Draft released

For the seventh year in a row, renewables have the lowest cost range of any new electricity generation, despite varied inflationary impacts across technologies.

Key findings

  • Large scale solar PV remains the strongest performer, falling 8 per cent for the second year in a row.
  • Battery costs record the biggest annual reduction, falling 20 per cent.
  • Onshore wind costs continue to increase, but at a slower rate.
  • Gas turbine costings increase reflecting the additional cost of being hydrogen ready.
  • New insights on nuclear projects, including potential cost advantages of a long operational life, plausible capacity factor ranges and likely development lead time.

Read the Executive Summary PDF (726 KB)

Next steps

  • Consultation opens: 11 December, 2024
  • Consultation closes: 11 February, 2025 

The final GenCost 2024-25 report will be released in the second quarter of 2025.

AEMO's Integrated Systems Plan

GenCost is an important input into AEMO's Integrated Systems Plan (ISP).

Updated every two years, the ISP outlines the lowest-cost investment to ensure Australians can access reliable, secure and affordable electricity, while meeting our national emission reduction targets. It provides a comprehensive roadmap for developing generation, storage and transmission as ageing coal-fired power stations retire.

The most recent ISP was published by AEMO on 26 June, 2024.

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FAQs

Explore answers to commonly asked questions about GenCost.

Dive in

What is GenCost?

GenCost is a leading economic report for business leaders and decision-makers planning reliable and affordable energy solutions to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Published annually in collaboration with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), GenCost offers accurate, policy and technology-neutral cost estimates for new electricity generation, storage, and hydrogen technologies, through to 2050.

GenCost is highly collaborative and transparent, leveraging the expertise of energy industry stakeholders and involving extensive consultation to ensure accuracy prior to publication.

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GenCost is an annual collaboration between CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to update the costs of new-build electricity generation, storage and hydrogen production out to 2050.

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GenCost 2024-25 Consultation Draft

Explore key insights from the latest report.

GenCost projects the cost of electricity generation and storage for a wide range of technologies up to the year 2050.  

GenCost data and formulae

Unpacking the numbers

The data used in GenCost is based on the best global information and applied to local conditions – which allow a meaningful comparison of future energy costs generated by various technologies in the Australian context. This is important because the electricity generation system and the cycles of demand in each country are different. We publicly provide the data and formulae needed for others who want to test their own assumptions.

Access GenCost data

Inflation impacts

The latest GenCost report found that while inflationary pressures on freight and raw materials are easing, their impacts on specific technologies remain mixed.

Solar PV and batteries are recovering the fastest from the recent global inflationary cycle, with solar PV capital costs dropping 8 per cent for the second year and battery costs experiencing a 20 per cent cost reduction.

Onshore wind costs have increased by 2 per cent, down from an 8 per cent rise last year, reflecting ongoing but moderated equipment and installation expenses.

Nuclear updates

The latest report expands on our previous analysis of large-scale nuclear costs, focusing on operational lifespan, capacity factors, and development lead times.

What we found:

  • Despite a long lifespan, nuclear offers no unique cost advantages over shorter-lived technologies. Faster, cheaper-to-rebuild options offer similar savings.
  • High reinvestment costs and long deployment delays push nuclear cost benefits decades into the future, making it less competitive compared to quicker alternatives.
  • Both global and Australian evidence for nuclear capacity factors points to a wide range being plausible.
  • Nuclear construction times have increased globally, averaging 8+ years.
  • In full democracies, construction is taking at least 10 years.
  • These timelines do not account for planning, permitting and financing stages, which extend total lead time even further.

Resources

Explainers

Our in-depth explainers take a closer look at Australia’s evolving electricity sector. What are the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in Australia's energy transition?

Understanding the cost of Australia's electricity transition

Understanding the costs of new-build electricity generation technologies is essential if we are to evolve Australia’s energy system to limit emissions.

The question of nuclear in Australia’s electricity sector

In Australia's transition to net zero emissions, the electricity sector has a major role to play. But does nuclear power have a place in our future grid?

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