Life Cycle Costing Based LCOE Method for Economic Analysis of Low Head Small Hydro Power Plants in India

A major fraction of the initial investment cost in the current small hydro power advancement scenario is due to the cost of equipment and construction process. Originally the progression of construction and cost administration is limited to analysis of capital costs of civil works, electromechanical works and equipment, neglecting the cost of plant outage, generation loss, operation and maintenance, replacement costs etc. Modern studies indicate that these costs establish to be considerable fraction of the total capital investment. Consequently, for cost administration and decision making, small hydro power developers in the recent years are drawing superior awareness towards performing life cycle costing studies. In this regard, it is imperative that research has to be conceded in interpreting the philosophy of life cycle costing methodology and its applicability to economic analysis of small hydro power plants. In this study, an economic analysis methodology for determining levelized cost of electricity has been demonstrated using life cycle costing analysis on a range of low head small hydro power plants and the results are analyzed.