The NREL Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) provides a consistent set of technology cost and performance data for NREL analysis. The ATB electricity data and transportation data are freely available for use by others in their energy analyses.
To inform electric and transportation sector analysis in the United States, each year NREL provides a robust set of modeling input assumptions for energy technologies (the Annual Technology Baseline) and a diverse set of potential electricity generation futures or modeling scenarios (Standard Scenarios). In 2020, an Annual Technology Baseline is provided for the transportation sector for the first time.
The ATB is a populated framework to identify technology-specific cost and performance parameters or other investment decision metrics across a range of fuel price conditions as well as site-specific conditions for electric generation technologies at present and with projections through 2050.
ATB Electricity 2020 >
The electric sector ATB includes:
- Current and projected estimates through 2050 for capacity factor, capital expenditures, operations expenditures, and levelized cost of energy
- A range of technology advancements scenarios, resource characteristics, sites, fuel prices
- Financing assumptions
- Documentation of methodology.
ATB Transportation 2020 >
The transportation sector ATB includes:
- Current and projected estimates for vehicle cost, fuel economy, fuel cost, CO2e emissions, and levelized cost of driving
- A range of technology advancements scenarios
- Documentation of methodology.
Sponsor
The ATB, which is supported by the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Office of Strategic Programs and Impact Analysis, leverages and continues significant activity funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and EERE for individual technologies and market segments.