A procedure for estimating the overall system worth associated with generating unit refurbishment

Quantitative reliability evaluation is an important element in power system planning and operation and the indices generated can be used to make a wide variety of planning decisions. The paper presents a comprehensive and basic approach to recognizing the impacts of generating unit unavailability on expected energy production costs, expected failure costs and capacity costs. The procedure is energy-based and utilizes an interrupted energy assessment rate applicable to the consumers served by the system to incorporate the expected load curtailment costs. The worth of generating unit refurbishment is assessed in terms of overall system costs. The cost of any specific unit refurbishment can be compared with the resulting net benefits and used to make decisions.