Technology Status - NET Nowak Energie & Technologie AG

Table 30
Generation Costs for 2-MW Power Plants (USD cents per KWh)
Example 3: Co-generation Power Plants
Analysis and comparison of the near-term potential of the three biopower
co-generation plants – a) Rankine 2.0 MW electricity output /6.8 MW
thermal output, b) gas engine 5.0 MW electricity output /6.0 MW thermal
output and c) pyrolysis-diesel 6.2 MW electricity output /6.5 MW thermal
output – show that:
● The overall efficiency increase is expected to range from 2.3% for the
rankine plant to 12.8% for the pyrolysis-diesel plant;
● The cost reduction potential in absolute and relative terms is highest for
currently more expensive technologies. More precisely, co-generation
costs could be reduced by about one-third for the gas engine and
pyrolysis-diesel plants and by about one-tenth for the rankine plant.
In the medium to long term, it is anticipated that gasification/turbine systems
will be able to produce electricity at up to twice the efficiency of today’s
biomass power plants, i.e. up to 45%. These very-high-efficiency systems will
result from technical improvements that are only possible at a larger plant
size. Projections for bio-gasification combined-cycle plants show electricity
costs close to those of conventional fossil fuel fired power plants.
Currently, biomass power plants are limited to between 30 MW and 100 MW,
depending on fuel sources and geographical context. Increased generating
efficiency through advanced combined-cycle technology will further reduce the
fuel required for power production, resulting in greater generating capacity.
5
BIOPOWER
Current Current Near-term Near-term
generation generation generation generation
cost based on cost based on cost based on cost based on
5,000 h annual 7,000 h annual 5,000 h annual 7,000 h annual
operating time operating time operating time operating time
Rankine 12.5 10.5 10 8.5
power plant
Gasification -
gas engine
19 14 12 9.5
Pyrolysis-diesel 16 14.5 12.5 11
Source: IEA Bioenergy.
115