In this article, I will share ways in which the cost of power generation can be reduced in power plant stations.
If the cost of power generation is going to be higher, this will affect the overall working progress of the power station.
The power plant station will be running on losses instead of racking up profits.
Before I share the ways to reduce the cost of power generation, there is something else you have to know.
The cost of power generation in power plants station consists of the following costs;
- The cost of the fuel.
- The cost of operating labour.
- The cost of maintenance, labour and materials.
- The cost of supplies such as oil, boiler feed water, water treatment chemicals and so forth.
All these costs will add up to the total cost of energy generation in a power plant.
Now, let us talk about how we can reduce this cost.
This is how the cost of power generation can be reduced;
1. Reducing the initial investment in the power plant station.
If the cost of energy production is to be reduced on a power station, this is where it should start.
The initial investment of the power plant station covers the major cost of energy generation.
When the initial investment in the power plant station is higher, so will the cost of energy generation.
And that is why when designing a power plant station, the first requirement is to minimize the expenditure of the power plant.
You might like this: Requirements Of Power Plant Station Design
By reducing the initial investment of the power plant, it will keep its operation cost lower, thus reducing the cost of power generation.
But if the initial cost is higher, this means that even if any simplification of operation is done, the cost will always be higher because of the pieces of equipment used.
The maintenance costs will always be higher, the fuel needed will be more, and the supplies needed are going to cost more.
This is because the initial investments in the power plant station were not considered.
The amount will always be higher, so to rack up profit, the power plant will need to impose higher rates on its customer to be able to cover the initial investment in the power plant.
Without doing that, then the power generation cost will always be higher because more money is put into power production than the money that comes in.
The initial investment of the power plant has to be lower if the cost of energy production has to be less.
So, if this was messed up since the beginning of the design of the power station, it’s going to be a hell of a lot harder to fix.
2. Selecting generating units of higher efficiency.
The generating units are essential when it comes to power generation.
If the power cost is to be reduced significantly, the generating units have to work to their full potential.
The amount of energy generated will mainly be determined by the capacity of the generating units of the power plant.
If the generating units of the power station are of low efficiency, the power generated will be lower.
When the power generation is lower because of the generating units, this will result in loss.
The output will be lower than the input, thus negatively affecting the cost of energy generation in the power plant.
The generating units have to be carefully selected if the cost of energy production is to be reduced.
The whole generator and its excitation systems should be of higher capacity if the electrical energy is to be produced efficiently.
Faulty generators will only result in a lower generation of power, and this will result in lower output and, thus losses to the power plant.
The losses mean that the cost of power production will always be higher because there is no profit coming in.
The generating units must be carefully selected to obtain the ones with higher efficiency to reduce the cost of energy production.
3. Running the power plant at the highest possible load factor.
The load factor of the power plant is what maximizes or minimizes how effectively the power plant uses its resources to generate power.
When the power plant is running at the highest possible factor, it will use energy to its full potential resulting in producing the highest output.
The energy produced by the power plant at its highest load factor will be higher since it uses the resources to the maximum.
To reduce the cost of power generation, the power plant has to be running on the highest load factor possible.
This is what will ensure that the energy produced is sufficient, thus reducing the cost of energy production.
But if the utilization capacity of the power plant is going to be lower (the power plant running at a low load factor), the resources will be wasted, and the energy produced will be lower.
Which simply means that the output will be lower than the input.
For the power plant to generate sufficient energy, it has to use its resources to the maximum, and this will only happen if it’s running on its highest load factor.
4. Increasing the efficiency of fuel-burning equipment.
The generation of energy in power plants mostly depends on fuel.
For instance, if we talk about steam power plants, there is a need to burn fuel to produce the energy to heat the water in the boilers.
The generation of steam that is going to drive the turbine is what will make the production of energy possible.
The steam generated has to be of higher quality and quantity if the energy has to be generated to the fullest potential.
All these qualities of the steam will only be available if the fuel-burning pieces of equipment are effective.
Even if the fuel has a higher energy value (high calorific value), if the burning equipment and the overall firing system are faulty, the energy generated will be lower.
The burning equipment of the fuel has to be fully functional to produce the energy that is going to generate the quality steam needed to drive the turbines.
Burning equipment of higher efficiency will also reduce the consumption of fuel, thus saving money.
All this will result in a reduction in the cost when it comes to electrical energy generation.
A little more maintenance here and there of the burning equipment is also needed to make them effective.
One should do everything to ensure that the burning pieces of equipment are running at a higher efficiency to reduce the cost of energy generation.
5. Simplifying the power plant operation.
Another thing that usually increases the cost of energy generation in the power plant is the cost of operation labour.
Operators are needed to ensure that all the processes in the plant are running effectively.
The fuel and ash have to be handled by personnel.
The more sub-stations we have in the power plant, the higher the cost of operation will be.
In these sub-stations, labour will be needed to ensure that the processes are taking place effectively.
So, the only way to reduce the labour needed in a power plant is to reduce the substations in the power plant station.
All the processes in the power plants should be done at once to ensure that few personnel are going to be needed.
When it comes to fuel handling, if people are used to handling the fuel all day through, it’s better to install material handling equipment that will take care of that part.
You might like this: Bulk Material Handling Equipments: Advantages, Disadvantages & Maintenance
Reducing the labour and making the operation as simple as possible is what will reduce the cost of energy production.
One should think of a way to make the operations less demanding when it comes to labour.
The fewer personnel we will have in the power plant, the more we will reduce the cost of energy production.
So, if some processes can be done at once, then they should be connected.
If there is a machine you can install to reduce the personnel in the power station, it should be done.
All these measures will reduce the cost of energy production.
6. Installing the power plant closer to the load centre.
Transmitting energy over longer distances results in huge losses due to the resistance in the transmission cables.
To reduce the cost of energy production, the energy generated should be used to the fullest.
It should be supplied to the consumer to its almost full capacity (it’s impossible to eliminate all energy losses when it comes to power generation and transmission).
Installing the power plant closer to the load centre will reduce the cost of transmission.
By reducing the cost of transmission of energy, the overall cost of energy production is reduced.
If the power plant is installed near the load centre, the transmission lines needed will be less, and less energy is lost during transmission and distribution; all these factors will end up reducing the cost of energy generation.
7. Reducing transmission and distribution losses.
Another way to reduce the cost of energy generation in power plant stations is by reducing transmission and distribution losses.
If these losses are significantly reduced, the energy produced will be used to the fullest.
When the energy is conserved, the output is going to be higher, which will end up increasing the profit of the power plant.
The consumers will be satisfied by the energy they will be receiving, and we all know that happy customers are equal to increased profits.
If losses are minimized, the gain is going to be higher, thus reducing the cost of energy production.
The reduction of these losses (transmission and distribution) is made by selecting the appropriate equipment used in the power plant and other practices that I talked about in my other article.
You might like this: Methods Of Conserving Electrical Energy In Power Plants
Lastly…
The cost of energy production in a power plant can be reduced by a proper balance of the fixed and operating costs.
All measures must be put into reducing the cost of energy production if the power plant is to gain profit and keep running.
There will be no need to keep the power plant running if the cost of energy production is higher than the profit that comes in.
Proper operation, expertise and power plant economics should be put into use if the reduction of energy production is needed.
The tips I have shared in this article are going to help you, but you also have to do research and find out which sector of the power plant utilizes more than it can give and work on it.
This is what will help you reduce the cost of energy production in your power plant.
Thanks for reading; if you have any questions, you should leave your comment. See you in my next article.
Related articles to check.
