Technical Report

plant's peaking capacity was estimated to range from 153 to 430 $/kW in 1982 prices. This is considerably cheaper than the cost of Coal-Fired Cycling plants (1004 $/kW), Underground Pumped Hydro plants (UPH, 850 $/kW), and Compressed Air Energy Storage plants (CAES, 709 $/kW). The levelized busbar cost of peaking power from b/p plants ranges from 50% less than the cost of power from the least expensive of the alternate technologies for 500 hours of peaking per year to 10% less expensive for 3000 hours per year. The potential benefits of the b/p plant which motivated the funding of this conceptual study have been borne out by the results. Phase II of the study will provide the impetus and confidence for further b/p plant development. It will demonstrate the generation economics of the b/p plant by simulating its operation in a typical or actual utility system. To improve the accuracy of the conceptual estimate, the design of a recently constructed coal-fired plant will be modified to incorporate the peaking features of the b/p plant concept. The detailed cost and performance data for the modified plant will be used for Phase II economic analysis.

This volume reports the results of the first part of a two phase study on the feasibility of providing built-in peaking capability in baseloaded, coal-fired power plants. The results indicate that the baseload/peaking plant can extend the use of coal, the nation's most abundant energy resource, to intermediate and peakload generation without the need for synthetic fuels or the construction of expensive coal-fired cycling plants, or energy storage plants. The b/p plant peaking capacity was estimated to be substantially less expensive than all other peaking power generation options currently available to utility planners. The total capital cost of the b/p more »