Economic analysis for refurbishment and uprating of hydro power plants

Abstract

This paper proposes refurbishment and uprating for existing hydro power plants which have been drawing attention of hydro power experts for quite some time. In all engineering projects, the economic aspect has been considered of paramount importance. It is cost that decides whether a certain project will be feasible or not. The problem of determining the cost of any scheme is often difficult, because the cost varies considerably with time and tariff conditions. In the present research work, a case study has been undertaken for economic analysis. In this case study, the second option of refurbishment and uprating has been explored. The new uprated capacity has been achieved in this research paper from a century old hydro power plants located in Himalayas. The major contributions of this research work have been that of increased capacity of existing power plant, and economic feasibility with minimum investment in minimum time frame. Such an approach is of great significance to society as it has least impact on both the society and environment and at the same time it results in availability of more energy and increased generation capacity. The investigations have shown that the project holds great scope for refurbishment and uprating.