An economic comparison and evaluation of two geothermal district heating systems for advanced exergoeconomic analysis

•Economic evaluation of GDHS using advanced exergoeconomic analysis for the first time.•The results obtained for two different GDHSs are compared under same condition.•Each component of the Sarayköy GDHS is to operate more economically.•The usefulness of this analysis was clearly demonstrated comparing both the systems. This paper refers to an economic comparison and evaluation of two geothermal district heating systems (GDHSs) under same reference state condition and mechanic/economic parameters by using an advanced exergoeconomic analysis. In this analysis, costs of investment and exergy destruction of each component for the thermal systems such as the Afyon and Sarayköy GDHSs were split into endogenous/exogenous and unavoidable/avoidable parts, and were also compared with each other for the first time. The results obtained show that the advanced exergoeconomic analysis makes the information more accurate and useful, and supplies additional information that cannot be provided by the conversional analysis. Furthermore, the Afyon GDHS can be made more cost effectiveness, removing the system components’ irreversibilities, technical-economic limitations, and poorly chosen manufacturing methods, according to the Sarayköy GDHS. The majority of the components in the Sarayköy GDHS are to operate more economically than those in the Afyon GDHS. As a result, the usefulness of this method was clearly demonstrated comparing both the systems.