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What Is APTECH's Experience?

We have completed cost of cycling estimation projects for over a dozen progressive clients worldwide and have studied over 150 generation units of many kinds, including gas, oil, and coal-fired steam units; combustion turbines/ combined cycle; hydro; and pumped storage. Our database and experience on generation unit damage accumulation rates and costs (and ways to reduce them) are invaluable to you if you have an interest in electric generation.

Contact any of the following key personnel for immediate assistance

Dwight Agan or
Steve Lefton
Sunnyvale, CA
(408)745-7000

Tom Burnett
Houston, TX
(832) 593-0550

Jim Yavelak
Charlotte, NC
(704)865-6318

Power Plant Cost of Cycling Analysis

• COSTCOM®
• CYCLING ADVISOR™
• Cycling Cost Analysis
• Budget Projections
• Asset Evaluations
• Real Time Cost Analysis
• Cost of Ancillary Services
• Future Capital & Maintenance Costs
• Stranded Costs
• Dispatch for True Low Cost

Request a demonstration copy of
APTECH's Cost of Cycling program COSTDEMO

Why Analyze Plant Costs?

To determine:

• The plant's future costs, budgets, and missions
• The cost of cycling or baseloaded operation
• The cost and market value of ancillary services (e.g., automatic generation control, cycling operations, etc.)
• The new fixed costs with new ownership
• The effect of increased time between overhauls
• The costs in a new or open competitive marketplace
• The origin of the largest costs (e.g., due to cycling operations)
• The plant costs that can be reduced
• To show the PUC or IPP costs incurred by a utility when it is baseloaded or cycling (negative avoided costs)
• The current and expected true costs of hot, warm, and cold starts, and various types of load follow cycles (e.g., with different ramp rates and depth of cycles)
• Optimal system dispatch using a total cost perspective, including wear and tear costs
• The best energy/capacity/load following trading strategies
• The plant value and its asset valuation
• Stranded costs

What Affects Plant Costs?

• The degree of cycling versus baseloaded operations
• The unit-specific design (e.g., manufacturers, pressure, temperature, size, and fuel type)
• Operator care and maintenance practices
• Past spending and unit reliability trade-off (e.g., EFOR versus dollars)

Variable Nature of Cycling Damage and Costs

What are the Effects of Cyclic Operations?

• Increased damage to unit equipment with related higher maintenance, capital costs, and forced outage rates
• Lower fuel efficiencies beyond those explained by the "heat rate curves"
• Potentially shortened unit life

Why Be Concerned?

Significant costs that are not well understood and accounted for will result in inadequate recovery of equipment wear and tear costs. Lack of cost knowledge can force a utility to compete at less than 100% effectiveness. In the competitive world of electric generation, this is an unacceptable risk.

What Unique Products Does APTECH Use?

• Historical and real-time damage and cost model for a power plant
• Specific component damage and remaining useful life models
• CYCLING ADVISOR (patent pending) model for optimal system dispatch and transaction evaluation
• Condition assessment of the equipment

What Is APTECH's Experience?

We have completed cost of cycling estimation projects for over a dozen progressive clients worldwide and have studied over 150 generation units of many kinds, including gas, oil, and coal-fired steam units; combustion turbines/ combined cycle; hydro; and pumped storage. Our database and experience on generation unit damage accumulation rates and costs (and ways to reduce them) are invaluable to you if you have an interest in electric generation.

How Can I Learn More?

Read the following articles:

Lefton, Steve and Phil Besuner, "The Cost of Cycling Coal Fired Power Plants", Coal Power Magazine, Winter 2006, pp. 16-20.

Lefton, Steven A., Philip M. Besuner, and Dwight D. Agan, "The Real Cost of On/Off Cycling", Modern Power Systems, October 2006, pp. 11-13.

Lefton, Steve, Phil Besuner, and Paul Grimsrud, " Understand What it Really Costs to Cycle Fossil-Fired Units", Power, Vol. 141, No. 2, pp. 41-42, 46 (April 1997)

Lefton, Steve, Paul Grimsrud, and Phil Besuner,"Cycling Fossil-Fired Units Proves Costly Business",Electric Light & Power, Vol. 75, No. 7, p.19 (July 1997)

"Cycling Costs Millions", Power Generation: Strategy & Technology, October 21, 1996

For free copies of any of these articles, please email Wendy Buehler in our Sunnyvale, California, office by clicking this link
Please state the article(s) you'd like to receive, and include your name and mailing address in your message.