The environmental advantages of CHP have been well recognised over the last few years. Nevertheless, financial considerations still play a deciding role in when deciding which type of power plant to build. The profitability of different alternatives, however, must be assessed for the whole life cycle of the power plant.

CHP usually requires a larger investment than alternative conventional energy generation technologies, but it consumes smaller amounts of  primary energy resources. As a result, CHP plants are cheaper to operate than condensing power plants.