Investment Case Fundamentals1 / 12
NPV, IRR & Payback for Energy Projects
Time value of money; comparing projects; hurdle rate (typical 10-20%).
11 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead · Last reviewed July 2026
Energy projects compete with every other call on an organisation's capital. To win funding, they must be appraised in the language finance directors use - net present value, internal rate of return, and the hurdle rates against which all investments are judged.
In this lesson
- 01Beyond simple payback
- 02The time value of money
- 03Net present value (NPV)
- 04Internal rate of return (IRR)
- 05The hurdle rate
- 06Applying it to energy projects
- 07The energy advantage and challenge
- 08Sources and further reading