Power Plant Cost Analysis

• Budget Projections
  
• Asset Evaluations
  
• Real Time Cost Analysis
  
• Cost of Ancillary Services
  
• Future Capital & Maintenance Costs
  
• Stranded Costs
  
• Dispatch for True Low Cost
  
• COSTCOM™
  
• CYCLING ADVISOR™

Why Analyze Plant Costs?
To Determine:

• The plant's future costs, budgets, and missions
  
• The cost of cycling or baseloaded operation
  
• The cost and market value of ancillary services (e.g., automatic generation control, cycling operations, etc.)
  
• The new fixed costs with new ownership
  
• The effect of increased time between overhauls
  
• The costs in a new or open competitive marketplace
  
• The origin of the largest costs (e.g., due to cycling operations)
  
• The plant costs that can be reduced
  
• To show the PUC or IPP costs incurred by a utility when it is baseloaded or cycling (negative avoided costs)
  
• The current and expected true costs of hot, warm, and cold starts, and various types of load follow cycles (e.g., with different ramp rates and depth of cycles)
  
• Optimal system dispatch using a total cost perspective, including wear and tear costs
  
• The best energy/capacity/load following trading strategies
  
• The plant value and its asset valuation
  
• Stranded costs

What Affects Plant Costs?

• The degree of cycling versus baseloaded operations
  
• The unit-specific design (e.g., manufacturers, pressure, temperature, size, and fuel type)
  
• Operator care and maintenance practices
  
• Past spending and unit reliability trade-off (e.g., EFOR versus dollars)

What Unique Products Does APTECH Use?

• Historical and real-time damage and cost model for a power plant
  
• Specific component damage and remaining useful life models
  
• CYCLING ADVISOR (patent pending) model for optimal system dispatch and transaction evaluation
  
• Condition assessment of the equipment

We have completed cost of cycling estimation projects for over a dozen progressive clients worldwide and have studied over 150 generation units of many kinds, including gas, oil, and coal-fired steam units; combustion turbines/ combined cycle; hydro; and pumped storage. Our database and experience on generation unit damage accumulation rates and costs (and ways to reduce them) are invaluable to you if you have an interest in electric generation.

Aptech Engineering Services, 1282 Reamwood Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. Tel: 408-745-7000; Fax: 408-734-0445.