Cost Calculations

This guide explains how the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) performs societal cost-benefit calculations by aggregating various energy system costs and comparing scenarios using Net Present Value (NPV).

• LEAP calculates cost-benefit analysis from a societal perspective by aggregating multiple cost elements, including demand costs, transformation capital and module costs, fixed and variable operating and maintenance costs, costs of indigenous and imported fuels, benefits of exported fuels, externality costs from pollutant emissions, and costs of unmet requirements.
• To avoid double counting, users must define a system boundary. By default, LEAP boundaries encompass the complete energy system, accounting for fuel costs only during import, export, or primary resource extraction. Users can specify smaller boundaries to exclude specific modules, such as refining, in which case LEAP uses 'Delivered Costs' variables for those inputs.
• All cost calculations in LEAP are conducted in real (constant) currency units, though results can be displayed in discounted currency units based on a default discount rate. The Net Present Value (NPV) is used in Cost-Benefit Reports to show the sum of all discounted costs and benefits of one scenario relative to another across the study period.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). Cost Calculations. https://cdn.leap.sei.org/Help24/Concepts/Transformation_Cost_Calculations.htm

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Cost Calculations. n.d. https://cdn.leap.sei.org/Help24/Concepts/Transformation_Cost_Calculations.htm.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Cost Calculations |url=https://cdn.leap.sei.org/Help24/Concepts/Transformation_Cost_Calculations.htm |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendcost, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Cost Calculations}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://cdn.leap.sei.org/Help24/Concepts/Transformation_Cost_Calculations.htm}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }