Generator capacity, electricity costs

As of this writing (1996), 354 MWe of privately funded, paraboHc-trough electric generating capacity was operating in California. These trough systems operate in a hybrid mode, using natural gas. Collectively they accounted for more than 90% of worldwide solar electric capacity. The cost of these systems fell steadily from 0.24/kWh for the first 14-MW system to an estimated 0.08/kWh for the 80-MW plant installed in 1989 (5). 

Thermal power plant is more commonly associated with very large central power stations. The capital cost for thermal power plant, in terms of cost per installed kilowatt of electrical generating capacity, rises sharply for outputs of less than some 15 MW. It is for this reason that thermal power plant is not usually considered for industrial applications unless it is the combined cycle or combined heat and power modes. However, for cases where the fuel is of very low cost (for example, a waste product from a process such as wood waste), then the thermal power plant, depending on output, can offer an excellent choice, as its higher initial capital cost can be offset against lower running costs. This section introduces the thermal power cycle for electrical generation only. 

It is estimated that this would cost about 8,000 per capita in the United States for 300,000 megawatts of generating capacity to replace the coal consumed in the U.S. for electrical power generation. Post combustion scrubbing is a well known but largely unapplied technology. 

Energy from the sun is typically more affordable than wind power for individual residences. Currently photo voltaic cells needed for solar power are far too costly to be used for the national electrical grid. Solar energy generation capacity in Armenia is currently around 650 MW, but estimates for future capacity are as high as 3,500 MW. 

The plant, which cost about 40 million to build, has a potential generating capacity of 15.4 megawatts (MW) of electricity per year and an actual capacity of 14.5 MW.1 It was designed specifically to bum whole scrap tires as its sole fuel. Although tire-derived fuels have been tried on a smaller scale elsewhere in the world, the Modesto Energy Project is apparently the first to operate successfully on a large scale.2... 

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