Europe levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) 2026 report

Carbon pricing, not the gas price, sets the floor under Europe's thermal generation costs by 2030. This 2026 update benchmarks levelised cost of electricity across 18 European markets and up to 38 technologies to 2060, with zonal detail for Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. We have expanded the scope to four new markets (Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, and Romania), along with updated analysis on 8-hour battery energy storage systems. Solar LCOE moves 116% across our financing sensitivity range, against 34% for gas. Read this to see why offshore wind costs rise before they fall and how far solar and onshore wind extend their advantage against other power generation technologies. Small modular reactors, enhanced geothermal and carbon capture improve their competitiveness against conventional power plants. Crucially, our LCOE analysis contrasts the rentability of merchant routes to market costs against a contracted ones.