Techno-economic assessment: Achieving the economic efficiency of innovations

Research and development are the basis for new products and processes. However, technical progress alone does not guarantee market success. To ensure that innovations are not only technically feasible but also economically viable, an early and well-founded techno-economic assessment (TEA) is essential. It helps to identify and minimise economic risks, optimise development paths and provide a solid basis for investment decisions.

Our approach: Sound and standardised with BEAT

In the Biorefineries Department and in the Working Group Hydrothermal Processes, we use our developed economic tool BEAT (Biorefinery Economic Assessment Tool) for these analyses. Our methodology focuses on the determination of production costs and follows the recognised standards of the VDI 6025 guideline, ensuring a systematic, transparent and comparable assessment.

How does the assessment with BEAT work?

The calculation with BEAT is based on a detailed business analysis that includes all relevant cost and revenue factors:

  • Capital-linked costs take into account the necessary investments and imputed interest. These are converted into constant annual costs using the annuity method.
  • Consumption-linked costs include all expenses for raw and auxiliary materials as well as energy requirements.
  • Operation-linked costs include expenditure on personnel and the maintenance and repair of equipment.
  • Other costs summarise further operating expenses such as insurance, administrative costs and a necessary uncertainty surcharge.
  • Revenues for example from the sale of by-products, are also offset.

BEAT provides reliable profitability data and precisely identifies cost drivers. Detailed sensitivity analyses enable opportunities and risks to be recognised at an early stage, which can then be optimally integrated into process development. This enables well-founded strategic decisions to be made – from initial assessments to comprehensive analyses, flexibly scalable for every stage of development.