Economic analysis of a small combined cycle gas turbine power plant in the Italian electricity market

Despite the availability of new alternative energy sources, growing worldwide energy demand and emissions targets lead power plants to work optimizing performances. In this new scenario in which renewable energies are increasingly taking the field, it is also important to produce energy at a low price. Moreover, the variability of the energy market price complicates the analysis. Comparison between the produced energy cost and the market price is necessary to get a return on investment. In this context, the paper investigates the implications of using a gas turbine in an energy system estimating the plant layout and the number of working hours that guarantees a better profit. The analysis focuses on the study of the start-up and shutdown operation mode to find the optimal solution strategy in the Italian electricity market.