The performance investigation of Tegeta gas power plant

Natural gas fired power plants have been facing problem in power generation due to the existing shortage of gas supply which is currently caused by low gas pressure in the pipeline. This study has conducted the performances investigation of Tegeta Gas Power Plant. Performance indices considered were plant availability, reliability and productivity determined based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE 762-2006) standard. Financial analysis has been done using a life cycle cost analysis, sensitivity analysis was conducted to obtain the minimum power plant utilization required for profit operation and the power plant performance model was developed, tested and simulated using Vensim software. The research findings showed that plant availability for the study period was 96.03 %, reliability was 99.32 %, and utilization was 74.93 %. The utilization gap of 20 % was obtained which results to loss of profit opportunity amounting to Tsh 13,154,192,667/= annually, this was caused by plant underutilization as a result of unreliable gas supply. The mentioned loss of profit opportunity resulted to decrease on Net Present Value (NPV) of the plant from Tsh 129 billion and the corresponding internal rate of Return (IRR) of 56.05 % to Tsh 65 billion and 39.37 % respectively for 20 years life time of the power plant. Further analysis indicates that the minimum plant utilization for profit operation should be above 40 % otherwise will result in to loss. Generally, the results of this study indicate that plant availability and reliability is stable but productivity is directly affected by gas supply which eventually affects the overall power plant performance.