Engineering
Solar CAPEX Benchmarking
Build a transparent early solar CAPEX benchmark with scope boundaries, quantities, market basis, contingency and sensitivities.
Why this workflow matters
A benchmark is useful only when its scope and date are clear. Unit costs should be tied to preliminary quantities and adjusted for site-specific civil, grid, logistics and development conditions.
Questions to answer
- What is included and excluded from CAPEX?
- Which capacity basis and quantities are used?
- What market date, currency and location factors apply?
- How are uncertainty and contingency represented?
Recommended workflow
- 1Define the estimate class, scope and base date.
- 2Develop preliminary quantities from the technical concept.
- 3Apply benchmark rates and site-specific adjustments.
- 4Add risk-based contingency and test key sensitivities.
Evidence to collect
- ✓ Scope and battery limits
- ✓ Preliminary quantities and design basis
- ✓ Comparable market benchmarks
- ✓ Risk register and escalation assumptions
Decision-ready outputs
- → CAPEX breakdown
- → Basis-of-estimate document
- → Sensitivity and contingency summary