Cost-Benefit Analysis of Portable Power Generators with Conventional Versus Alternative Fuels for 2026 and Beyond in India

Abstract

Conventional fuels pose environmental and sustainability concerns in off-grid power generation for daily business operations of small scale enterprises in most parts of the developing world. Alternatives to conventional diesel-based off-grid power generation are need of the hour for standalone gensets in any developing country. There is a need to suggest an economically viable fuel-genset combo for off-grid power generation for environmental consciousness micro-scale businessmen and mini family households who would like to generate their own eco-friendly electricity where solar resources are minimal and alternative fuel resources are maximal. In this paper, India was chosen as the study country for being one of the highly off-grid power-demanded as well as populous developing country. Various generator sets’ specifications were taken from product datasheets, and performance losses of each genset type were included to quantify the cost to produce kilo-Watt-hour (kWh) using predicted average fuel price for 2035 based on average fuel prices from 2015-2025 of each fuel analyzed in this study. The customized Breakeven Time and customized Breakeven Price formula has been developed using general formula of breakeven calculation. Sensitivity analysis for each generator type has been done with its applicable fuel, alongside Net Present Value (NPV) and Benefit-To-Cost ratio (BCR). Results showed that average cost per kWh with diesel was USD 0.48 compared to alternative fuels such as B100, B5, B10, B20, White Biodiesel, Green Hydrogen, Blue Hydrogen, CNG and Syngas which stood at USDs 0.34, 0.27, 0.31, 0.28, 0.24, 0.32, 0.22, 0.46 and 0.53 respectively, indicating syngas as least-costliest fuel. The breakeven time, NPV, and BCR were calculated to report the most beneficial fuel of all fuels studied. The results showed B100, B20 and green hydrogen are beneficial in terms of NPV, in the order of merit fuels of all.