Effects of the Environmental Cost of Electricity Generation, Considering the LCOE Model

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The role of natural resources in human life shows that human society is dependent on nature. Climate change is increasing our worries about water shortage. In addition to water supply in today's growing societies, energy provision and the consequences of their extraction are significant. The current study aimed to calculate the environmental costs of electricity generation and to analyze the impact of environmental costs on the price of electricity generation. The quantity of virtual water per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated from thermal power plants and renewable energies was calculated. Afterward, the quantity of particulate matter and greenhouse gases emitted from thermal power plants were determined. Within the final section, the price of electricity was computed by implementing the LCOE model under two different circumstances. The results reveal that the environmental costs of electricity generation affect the final price of electricity. Environmental costs of electricity generation, including the cost of fossil fuel, emissions, and virtual water costs in the steam turbine, gas turbine, and CCGT power plants are 3.03, 2.44, and 1.24 cent per kWh, respectively. The external cost of renewable energy is negligible. In alternative words, electricity from wind and photovoltaic keeps more than 10 million tons of particulate matter and greenhouse gases from emitting into the atmosphere each year

Keywords


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