Heat price
The heat price is an economic key figure for evaluating heating and other heat supply systems. It stands for the constant price over the service life that a user would have to ask for the heat provided so that the net present value of the investment would be zero. From this price onwards, the investment would be considered economically positive.
This leads to the following formula:
- Heat price = annuity of the investment / annual heat supply
In addition to the actual investment, the annuity of the investment includes operating , maintenance and other costs (see net present value ).
The heat price is usually given in cents / kWh, € / kWh or € / MWh, depending on the size of the heat generator.
Alternatively, one also speaks of heat generation costs .
interpretation
The heat price is an evaluation option for competing heat supply systems. However, he must not deal with the pure consumption costs such. B. the gas price in cents / kWh can be compared, since this does not include investment costs, maintenance costs or provision costs. It should also be noted that the heat price remains constant over the entire service life, while energy prices are variable.
A transformation of the above formula leads to the following interpretation:
- Heat price = capital value of the investment / discounted with the present value factor heat provided over the entire service life
example
A fictitious energy system delivers 50,000 kWh per year. The investment costs € 100,000 and the system has a lifespan of 10 years. A discount rate of 6% results in an annuity factor of 0.136. The annuity of the investment is thus € 13,600. The heat price is then € 13,600 / 50,000 kWh = 27.2 cents / kWh. Note: Operating, maintenance and other costs have been neglected for the sake of simplicity.