Benchmarking the operational and financial performance of hydro plants

This study presents a benchmarking method which developers can use to assess the performance of their hydro plants. The study reveals the relative performance of plants as the basis for comparison, to indicate the scope for improvement in efficiency or to reduce the redundancy of a plant/utility. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a relatively efficient evaluation method based on an operational research technique. In this paper, a DEA model has been developed based on expert opinion and accessible economic factors to assess and benchmark data from hydroelectric utilities/plants in India and other countries. The analysis used R software packages (version 4.0.5) for DEA, and Excel for statistical analyses. The combined analysis of international and Indian utilities indicates that 10 of the 36 utilities, including three Indian utilities (JP Power, RRVUNL and THDC) are efficient and operating at the optimal scale.