Combined Cycle

• For most economic operation and optimum utilization, it is necessary to operate

various power plants in region in an integrated system
• For this purpose all power plants are connected together known as interconnected
system and centrally supervised and controlled
• The proper coordination of the generation of electrical power in a group of power
plants connected to a common grid system leads to considerable saving as
compared with the same loads fed from a number of independent power plants.

Merits of combined operation of power plants

i. Flexibility of operation
ii. Reliability of supply
iii. Reserve Capacity
iv. Better utilization of Hydropower
v. Economic Benefits
vi. Exchange of peak loads
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 Combined Operation of Hydro and Steam Power Plant
i. Run-off river power plant has small pondage and uses water as it is available
• It production vary widely during the year
• Very large in rainy season and very low in dry season
• The utility of such plants can be considerably increased by operating them in
combination with steam power plant
• Run-off river power plant can be employed as base load power plant during
rainy season while steam power plant may supply the peak load
• During dry season steam power plant supply the base load and Run –off river
power plant supply the peak load

ii. Storage Hydro Power plant and Steam power plant

– Hydropower plant with ample storage has firm power
– Operating cost of Hydropower plant are very low
– Both can be operated as base load and peak load and vice versa depending on
availability of water, storage facility available and load curve of the system

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The power plant to be employed as base power plants should have:
i. Low operating cost
ii. Capability of working continuously for long periods
iii. Requirements of few operating personnel
iv. Repair should be economical and speedy

The power plant to be employed as peak load power plants should have:
i. Capability of quick start
ii. Quick Synchronization and taking up the system load
iii. Quick response to load variation

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 Comparison of various types of power plants
S.N Particulars Hydro Power Plant Steam Power Plant Diesel Power PlantWind Power Plant Solar Power Plant
1 Site
2 Space Requirements
3 Auxiliaries Requirements
4 Simplicity & Cleanliness
5 Staring Time
6 Reliability
7 Plant Life
8 Overall Efficiency
9 Erection Period
10 Source of Power
11 Maintenance Requirements
12 Capital Cost
13 Operating Cost
14 Fuel transportation Cost
15 Standby Losses
16 Transmission & Distributin Cost
17 Outage Rate
18 Environmental Impact 4
19 Application
Environmental Aspects of Electrical Power Generation

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i. Thermal Based Power plants
• Either the source is diesel, coal, radio active materials , gas etc
• Air Pollution Impacts: due to smoke, flue gases and dust
• Cooling Tower Impact: fog
• Aquatic Impacts: Thermal effects
Chemical Contamination
Ecological cycles
ii. Hydro Power Plants:
• Large dam have to be constructed for huge storage of water which leads to displacement of
inhabitants in that area due to which ecological and historical nature gets disturbed.
• Dams slows down the flow of rivers and cause the pollution of water
• It disturbs the demographic balance also
• Large acquisition means destruction of forest cover which is harmful for environment
a. Social and Economic Impacts
i. Demographic Impacts
ii. Land use impacts
iii. Housing Impacts
iv. Public Services
v. Community Structure
vi. Psychological Impacts
vii. Economic Impacts viii. Political and Cultural Impacts 6
 Co-combustion and Co-generation
 Co-combustion : Burning of dried feedstock or liquified biomass with fossil fuels
in existing boilers – for heating and industrial purpose or for electricity generation
• There is no basic change in technology – only the bio-mass is made compatible
with the fossil fuels – such as bio-diesel
• Increases the energy conversion efficiency of the fuel
 Cogeneration: also known as CHP (Combined Heat and power generation)
• Uses the power plant to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful
heat/steam.
• All thermal power plants emit certain amount of heat during electricity production
which may be used for useful purpose such as heating or producing steam
• The industries in which the steam is used for different processing purposes are
paper mills, textile mills, sugar mills, chemical works, plastic manufacturing, food
processing, laundries, hotels etc.
• There are two main categories of cogeneration
i. Topping Cycle: If the steam produced in the boiler at high temperature and
pressure is processed, the processed steam at low temperature and pressure is either
extracted from turbine at intermediate stage or at turbine exhaust than it is known 7 as
topping cycle.
ii. Bottoming Cycle: If the steam produced in the boiler at high temperature and
pressure if directly used for manufacturing process and the rejected heat is used for
power generation is known as bottoming cycle.
Advantages of Cogeneration
i. Fuel economy
ii. Lower Capital Cost
iii. Smaller gestation period
iv. Saving from power cuts and power interruption
Cogeneration Technologies
i. Steam Turbine System Fig: Bottoming Cycle
ii. Gas Turbine System
iii. Diesel Engine System

Fig: Topping Cycle 8

Captive generation – “a captive power plant is a power plant of over 1MW
in capacity set-up by the generator for own use”
 Industries install own generators for supplementing energy demand during its peak
consumption.
 Many of the generators are fossil fuel based – gas or oil.
 These can be used for system support when the industry consumption is low.
Distributed Generation:
 Distributed generation is an approach that employs small-scale technologies to
produce electricity close to the end users of power. DG technologies often consist
of modular (and sometimes renewable-energy) generators, and they offer a number
of potential benefits.
 In many cases, distributed generators can provide lower-cost electricity and higher
power reliability and security with fewer environmental consequences than can
traditional power generators.
 Distributed generation (also called on-site generation or decentralized generation)
is a term describing the generation of electricity for use on-site, rather than
transmitting energy over the electric grid from a large, centralized facility (such as
a coal-fired power plant).
 As economic development outpaces the expansion of electricity 9 supply in some
areas of the country, and with other regions facing constraints on the ability to
deliver power where and when it is needed, it is important to encourage local options
for electricity transmission
 Distributed generation takes place on two-levels:
 Local level:
 Local level power generation plants often include renewable energy
technologies that are site specific, such as wind turbines, geothermal energy
production, solar systems (photovoltaic and combustion), and some hydro-
thermal plants. These plants tend to be smaller and less centralized than the
traditional model plants.
 They are energy and cost efficient and more reliable.
 They usually produce less environmentally damaging or disrupting energy
than the larger central model plants.

 End Point Level:

 At the end-point level the individual energy consumer can apply many of
these same technologies with similar effects.
 One DG technology frequently employed by end-point users is the modular
internal combustion engine.
 DG technologies can operate as isolated "islands" of electric energy
production or they can serve as small contributors to the power grid. 10
Thank You

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