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Engineering ToolBox > Power Plant Performance Factors
The performance of a power plant can be expressed through some common performance factors as
Overall thermal performance or energy efficiency for a power plant for a period can be defined as
φhr = H / E (1)
where
φhr = heat rate (Btu/kW, kJ/kW)
H = heat supplied to the power plant for a period (Btu, kJ)
E = energy output from the power plant in the period (kWh)
Thermal efficiency of a power plant can be expressed as
μte = 100 3412.75 / φ (2)
where
μte = thermal efficiency (%)
The capacity factor for a power plant is the ratio between average load and rated load for a period of time and can be expressed as
μcf = 100 Pal / Prl (3)
where
μcf = capacity factor (%)
Pal = average load for the power plant for a period (kW)
Prl = rated capacity for the power plant (kW)
Load factor for a power plant is the ratio between average load and peak load and can be expressed as
μlf = 100 Pal / Ppl (4)
where
μlf = load factor (%)
Ppl = peak load for the power plant in the period (kW)
Economic efficiency is the ratio between production costs, including fuel, labor, materials and services, and energy output from the power plant for a period of time. Economic efficiency can be expressed as
φee = C / E (5)
where
φee = economic efficiency (cents/kW, euro/kW, ...)
C = production costs for a period (cents, euro, ..)
E = energy output from the power plant in the period (kWh)
Operational efficiency is the ratio of the total electricity produced by the plant during a period of time compared to the total potential electricity that could have been produced if the plant operated at 100 percent in the period.
Operational efficiency can be expressed as
μoe = 100 E / E100% (6)
where
μeo = operational efficiency (%)
E = energy output from the power plant in the period (kWh)
E100% = potential energy output from the power plant operated at 100% in the period (kWh)