Financial Appraisal of Meshkinshahr Geothermal Power Plant Assuming Feed in Tariff of Electricity

Abstract

Despite the high potential of geothermal reservoirs in Meshkinshahr, we only see the government entering the electricity extraction of geothermal energy because the cost of the Meshkinshahr geothermal electricity is higher than the balanced price of the electricity market and the private sector is disadvantaged for entering it. So, the government has adopted a feed in tariff policy for geothermal electricity to encourage private sector investors. This research is aimed at financial appraisal of Maskinshahr geothermal power plant with the assumption of feed in tariff by the government with Equivalent Uniform Annual Worth, Equivalent Uniform Annual Worth, and Equivalent Uniform Annual Cost methods. Equivalent Uniform Annual Benefit is obtained from feed in tariff of government and Equivalent Uniform Annual Cost is determined based on technical and economic components of the geothermal power plant and macroeconomic parameters. The results of the data analysis show that the construction of the geothermal power plant is fully justified with the 14% reduction rate, but if the investor's minimum expected rate exceeds 54%, the construction of the power plant has no economic justification. Also, if the construction of Meshkinshahr geothermal plant takes more than 13 years and 5 months like the government project, the generation of geothermal power is not cost-effective.