ABSTRACT:
The Aerospace Corporation Power Plant Economic Model was developed to provide an analytic tool for comparing the economics of alternative types of power plants. In addition, by comparing the capital investment requirements and operating costs of alternative solar systems, preferred concepts can be identified. The economic feasibility of these preferred systems can be determined by comparative economic evaluation of these and conventional nuclear and fossil-power plants for identical periods of commercial operations. The capital investment costs of any subsystem account can be estimated for a given size power plant in terms of base-year (e.g., 1972) dollars. To determine the relative economics of different size power plants, an economics-of-scale subroutine has been included, consisting of cost scaling relationships. This subroutine is separately applied to individual subsystem accounts permitting greater accuracy in estimating capital costs. A significant contribution to power plant cost is due to escalation, which is included in the model by an escalation subroutine. This subroutine determines the escalation in costs from the base year to the start of construction. During construction, cash flows are expended which incur interest-during construction (IDC) expenses in addition to the escalation of costs during this construction time period. The base-year capital investment costs combined with the escalation and IDC determine the total capital investment cost at the year of commercial operation. Using the discounted cash flow method, the capital investment cost at the year of commercial operation together with other fixed charges such as insurance and property taxes determine the total fixed charges.