Performance evaluation of a large-scale thermal power plant based on the best industrial practices

The aim of this study is to assess and evaluate the performance of a large-scale thermal power plant (TPP). The performance rating was conducted in compliance with the statistical principles. The data for this analysis were obtained for a TPP with an installed capacity of 375 MW during a span of 8 years (2010–2017). Four parameters were used to evaluate the performance of the TPP including the availability, the reliability, the capacity factor, and the thermal efficiency. These parameters were calculated using a set of equations and then compared to the international best practices and target values. The results indicate that approximately 91% of the expected capacity was available throughout the studied period against the industry best practice of 95%. However, the average TPP’s reliability was found to be approximately 95% against the target value of 99.9%. Furthermore, the average capacity factor throughout the studied period is 70% as against the international value of 40–80%. Moreover, the thermal efficiency of the TPP is 40% against the target value of 49%. Due to the outage hours and malfunctions, the power losses throughout the studied period reached 846 MW. Overall, the analysis indicates that the studied TPP is not within the scope of the best industrial practices.