Series

Financing the Energy Transition

This series presents investors and policymakers with a high-level picture of the factors influencing the financing and bankability of green technologies in the United States. For each technology — including nuclear, solar, wind, hydrogen, long duration energy storage, carbon capture, and industrial decarbonization — our team of data analysts and market experts conducts in-depth interviews with investors and scholars to ground sector-specific levelized cost models. These models, in turn, allow us to capture the key sensitivities governing each technology’s cost profile and identify the most important levers for optimizing their financial viability. With these reports, we aim to equip decisionmakers, on both the investment and the policy sides, with the insights they need in order to make informed decisions that will accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

In This Series

Part 1

Nuclear Memo

"JFI modeling suggests that, even with existing reactor designs, greenfield nuclear power plants can be a competitive source of clean, firm power in the US."
Part 2

State of Play: Proxy Season 2024

In this report, CAS highlights 21 upcoming annual meetings where our benchmarking raises concerns about the pace of progress on energy intensity and emissions, and where dissident proposals on climate will be on the ballot.
Part 3

Solar Memo

"Solar is by far the fastest growing power generation technology in the US." On solar module assembly in the US.
Part 4

A Tale of Two Solar Technologies

"Protective tariffs enacted to insulate domestic manufacturers from market forces will inevitably come at a cost to downstream solar developers, installers, and consumers in the short term."

Financing the Energy Transition Contributors

Financing the Energy Transition

Jonah Allen

Lead Researcher, Energy Transition Value Chains

Social Wealth and Financing the Energy Transition

Jonathan Calenzani

Fellow

Social Wealth and Financing the Energy Transition

Sina Sinai

Senior Research Associate

Tools

Tooling

Levelized Cost of Energy

Decarbonizing the energy sector requires the immediate construction of a suite of new technologies including nuclear, solar, wind, hydrogen, long duration energy storage, carbon capture, and industrial decarbonization. To bring each technology to scale, governments and investors need to understand how much everything costs. What does construction look like? What about materials and fuel? What supply chains are we relying on to bring the materials together? Once built, how often do new technologies need to be repaired and replaced? And how do the different technologies compare to each other, or to existing fossil-fuel energy?

Knowledge of these practicalities exists, but it is not generally accessible. We identified an urgent need to get that level of information in a usable form to policymakers and the public. Our Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) model fills this need. Public release forthcoming; to access the tool in beta form, contact us at jfi@jainfamilyinstitute.org.

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