The economic viability of a thermal power plant: a case study

The present paper deals with the economic viability of a coal-fired power plant (CFPP) situated in the northern part of India. The plant with a capacity of 250 MW at various load conditions has been evaluated from an economic point of view. The present worth method is used for the evaluation of CFPP. Revenue earned, operating cost, fuel cost, insurance cost, maintenance cost, pumping cost and net present value are evaluated w.r.t interest rate, number of employees, and plant life. The payback period and the impact of various factors on plant net present value is assessed by taking plant life as 30 years. With the increase in interest rate, all the cost decreases for fixed plant life of 30 years. However, operating cost increases with the increase in the number of employees. Also, with the increase in plant life, all type of cost increases, however after 25 years, the net present value starts decreasing according to the present study. The result of this study concludes that the payback period of the plant is 10 years. It is expected that the outcomes of this case study will be beneficial for future researchers.