Levelized Tariff Evaluation of Hydrokinetic Energy Project: A Case Study

1. Department of Hydro and Renewable Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

2. Department of Civil Engineering, Netaji Subhas University of Technology, Delhi, India
Email: upendra_b@hre.iitr.ac.in (U.B.); manojsood35@gmail.com (M.S.); sunil.singal@hre.iitr.ac.in (S.K.S.)
*Corresponding author
Manuscript received February 13, 2026; accepted April 11, 2026; published June 26, 2026

Abstract—Hydrokinetic technology, which extracts the kinetic energy of flowing water without the need for large reservoirs, is an emerging renewable energy option for sustainable power generation. The study presents a technical and financial assessment of a hydrokinetic farm deployed in the 1.0 km canal stretch in Uttarakhand, India. The proposed farm, consisting of 200 turbines supported by gearboxes, generators, pontoons, supporting structures, and anchoring systems, is capable of generating 2.42 GWh of net saleable electricity annually. The total Capital Expenditure (CapEx) is estimated as 0.528 million USD, with the gearbox contributing the maximum share due to high gear ratio requirements, followed by the turbine. The first year Operation and Maintenance (O&M) cost is calculated as 0.0217 million USD. Considering O&M costs, depreciation, interest on term loan, interest on working capital, and return on equity, the levelized tariff of electricity generation is determined as 0.045 USD/kWh. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the tariff is most influenced by CapEx. A 20% reduction in CapEx decreases the tariff to 0.036 USD/kWh, comparable to solar (0.032 USD/kWh) and wind (0.029 USD/kWh) electricity tariffs. The results confirm the techno-economic viability of canal-based hydrokinetic farms and highlight their potential as a competitive renewable energy solution.

Keywords—hydrokinetic technology, power generation, capital expenditure, levelized tariff, sensitivity analysis

Cite: Upendra Bajpai, Manoj Sood, and Sunil Kumar Singal, "Levelized Tariff Evaluation of Hydrokinetic Energy Project: A Case Study," International Journal of Sustainability in Energy and Environment, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 39-43, 2026.

Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited ( CC-BY-4.0).