Distributed Generation Study, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

This study assessed the role of distributed generation (DG) as an option for utilities to meet growth in future power demand. It discusses the general benefits of DG in avoided transmission costs and modularity, and the specific benefits of biomass-based DG systems such as rural economic development and environmental benefits. The bulk of the report describes a model developed by ANTARES that compares the costs of electricity from DG units to those of a central plant. Assumptions about projected demand growth, plant cost, fuel and O&M cost, capacity factor, and size are used to calculate the levelized cost of electricity from two biomass-based DG units and from a natural gas-fueled central plant. The results are used to determine whether these particular DG units are viable alternatives for utility planners.