Heat rate

The ratio of fuel energy input as heat per unit of net work output; a measure of a power plant thermal efficiency, generally expressed as Btu per net kilowatt-hour.

For a generator or power plant, the heat content of the fuel consumed divided by input divided by the electrical energy produced, usually expressed as BTU/kWh. A measure of how efficiently a generator converts fuel into electrical energy.

The amount of fuel energy required by a power plant to produce one kilowatt-hour of electrical output. A measure of generating station thermal efficiency, generally expressed in Btu per net kWh. It is computed by dividing the total Btu content of fuel burned for electric generation by the resulting net kWh generation.