Understanding Heat Rate and Power Plant Efficiency Can Save Big Money
Photo: Siemens.com
Why is heat rate important?
Joel Malina of Competition: Watt Matters provides some answers to this question.
The NYISO released a statement indicating that competitive markets are responsible for increased power plant efficiency over the past 10 years: the system-wide heat rate for New York State fossil-fueled power plants has dropped by 21 percent since the onset of competitive electricity markets.
The bottom line: Competition is providing the incentive for producers to lower their operating costs by gaining efficiencies, and consumers are seeing a difference in their pocketbooks as rates come down.
If you operate, maintain or manage a power plant, having a good understanding of heat rate can save you a great deal of money. A small 10 BTU/kWh change in heat rate can save your plant as much as $200,000 per year. (In most power plants, this constitutes less than a 1 percent change in your total heat rate.) Of course these numbers vary from plant to plant based on fuel costs, operating routine and capacity factor, but all types of power plants can benefit from a small change in heat rate.
Power plant personnel at all levels of experience need to have a strong understanding of efficiency and heat rate. As discussed in the Energy Efficiency Matters blog, this includes operators tracking real-time performance, maintenance and I&C personnel ensuring data signals are accurate and engineers supporting periodic detailed evaluations and capital improvement projects. With these practices in place, a significant savings can be seen in a short period of time, and a return on investment for most projects can be gained in less than a year.
Author: Scott Lock, Process Improvement Specialist
