Considering thermal power plants, operational costs, start-up costs of units, are mainly due to the fuel consumption.
I would like to know what are some specific costs of daily operation of a hydroelectric power plant, specially regarding the hydro unit commitment model.
One specific question, is what is the cost of starting up a hydro unit ?
In some papers, an amount of water is related to the cost of starting a hydro unit, how one can specify that amount? Can we represent that cost in terms of discharge of water?
I guess, maybe the cost of starting up is said in terms of water, because, for starting up and connecting a synchronized generator, operator needs to wait till the generator reaches the plant frequency, and meanwhile, some amount of water needs to pass from the turbine which does not lead to power generation.
Is that correct ?
Hydro turbines are low speed, high inertia turbines. Compare to thermal, operational cost, in hydro it could be around 1%. Though fixed cost is very high......
You may find some information in the following publications:
Article Hydropower Impacts on Electrical System Production Costs in ...
http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/9/1114/htm
Article Hydropower Bidding Using Linearized Start-Ups
Operation and maintenance costs are available in detail in the following link;
https://www.irena.org/documentdownloads/publications/re_technologies_cost_analysis-hydropower.pdf
Hydropower is the most efficient way to generate electricity. Modern hydro turbines can convert as much as 90% of the available energy into electricity. The best fossil fuel plants are only about 50% efficient.
- Hydropower is a renewable energy source based on the natural water cycle. Hydropower is the most mature, reliable and cost-effective renewable power generation technology available. Hydropower schemes often have significant flexibility in their design and can be designed to meet base-load demands with relatively high capacity factors, or have higher installed capacities and a lower capacity factor, but meet a much larger share of peak electricity demand.
- From 1985 to 1990 the cost of operating a hydropower plant grew at less than the rate of inflation.
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reports average investment costs for large hydropower plants with storage typically range from as low as $1,050/kW to as high as $7,650/kW, while the range for small hydropower projects is between $1,300/kW and $8,000/kW. Adding additional capacity at existing hydropower operations or existing dams that don’t have a hydropower plant can be significantly cheaper, and can cost as little as $500/kW.
The operating hydropower system cost varies depending on many factors, the main ones being the size of the system, the head and the type of turbine. If you want a quick idea of operational costs use the table below, or if you have a particular size of system you are interested in use the chart
Maximum Power Output : Estimated Annual Operational Costs
5 kW : £2,200
25 kW : £4,000
50 kW : £6,300
100 kW : £11,000
250 kW : £25,000
500 kW : £48,300
Overall generation cost is between $40 and $110/MWh (typical $75/MWh) for large hydropower plants, between $45 and $120/MWh (typically, $83/MWh) for small plants, and from $55 to $185/MWh ($90/MWh) for VSHPs
The total start / stop cost CSS for a generating unit can be calculated as:
CSS = CM + CR + CG + CWC
where: CM = Maintenance Cost per Start/Stop
CR = Equipment Replacement Cost per Start/Stop
CG = Reduced Generation Cost per Start/Stop
CWC = Water Commodity Cost per Start/Stop
You can easily ask Dr. Nr,
Actually, he absolutely will answer you😉
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