In this study, the effect of energy price on the development of a biomass gasification-solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid power plant has been considered.
Although these hybrid systems have been studied based on sustainable approaches, economic aspects, specifically conventional energy prices which are the principal bottleneck for the development of these new power generators have attracted littleresearch attention. In the present study a novel energy system has been considered, a comprehensive economic model has been implemented for the proposed system, and finally the effect of energy price on the main economic factors has been investigated. The economic effects of varying energy prices in three different locations (European Union, US and Iran) were evaluated during the cycle life time of the proposed system. Estimation of the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) based on current energy prices and economic conditions for the three locations indicated that the European Union is the most economically justifiable with an IRR value of 18.15% and a payback period value of 5.8 years. In addition, the economic viability of these modern systems will be further enhanced by a slight increase of electricity prices in the US; and with reasonable changes in electricity prices it might produce the best economic gains in Iran.