Biofuels in Perspective

Bio-based Fischer-Tropsch Diesel Production Technologies 111
Figure 6.7 Scale-dependency of specific TCI for GTL (left) and BTL (right) plants. Reproduced by permission
of ECN.
in-depth studies based on detailed assessment of equipment cost items. A recent trend
though is that throughout the whole industry prices have gone up considerably.
6.4.2 Fischer-Tropsch Biodiesel Production Costs
Based on the capital costs for the BTL plant as presented in Figure 6.8, the annual capital
(CAPEX) and operational (OPEX) costs are calculated with a depreciation period of
15 years (linear), a required IRR of 12 %, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of
5 %, and a plant availability of 8000 h per year. Based on these assumptions as well as
the assumptions on biomass (logistic) costs and conversion efficiencies, the costs of the
produced FT liquids can be given as a function of the plant capacity (Figure 6.8). 44 It is
clear that the costs for the conversion are the dominant cost factor at plant scales below
2000 MWth biomass input.
Figure 6.8 Scale dependency of Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel production costs. Reproduced by permission
of ECN.