A method of estimating the maximum power generation capacity of a gas turbine power plant having a microprocessor coupled to a memory arranged as a controller which regulates an operation of the power plant, the method comprising the controller:
- calculating an actual power output and a maximum power generation capacity of the gas turbine power plant based on a mathematical model of the gas turbine power plant;
- measuring the actual power output of the gas turbine power plant;
- comparing the calculated actual power output and the measured power output to derive a model-estimation error;
- processing the model-estimation error to generate a correction signal;
- and
- applying the correction signal to the calculated maximum power generation capacity to obtain a corrected estimate of the maximum power generation capacity of the gas turbine power plant.