PE Live: US transition may cost ‘challenging but feasible’ net $1tn

The long-term cost savings from the shift to renewables, after accounting for avoided fossil fuel costs, will offset much of the short-term capex and maintenance costs

The falling cost of renewables projects combined with lower long-term operational costs than conventional power generation mean than the net cost of decarbonising the US power sector may fall to around $1tn by 2035, Berkeley Research Group (BRG) experts said on a PE Live webcast last week. BRG published a whitepaper ahead of the webcast, on the PE Media Network Insight Centre, analysing the evolving economics of the energy transition from scarce hydrocarbons to abundant renewable energy. “A real change is the economic cost of the energy transition,” says Dr Matthew Tanner, managing director, energy & climate, BRG. “Once you get over the hump of a transition, it becomes a self-fulfi