Question: is cost of capital the same as cost of equity

Answer: No, In economics and accounting, the cost of capital is the cost of a company's funds (both debt and equity), or, from an investor's point of view ``the required rate of return on a portfolio company's existing securities''. It is used to evaluate new projects of a company. It is the minimum return that investors expect for providing capital to the company, thus setting a benchmark that a new project has to meet.