Compute energy needed for 10% ROI

A proposed facility must earn at least a 10% annual ROI on a $400M initial investment. The annual economics are as follows (assume all figures are annual unless indicated): land lease costs $5M per month; fixed O&M costs $25M per year; variable cost is $20 per MWh; the sale price is $40 per MWh. The plant’s annual capacity ceiling is 8.8 million MWh. Calculate: (1) the minimum MWh that must be generated and sold each year to reach the 10% ROI after all operating costs are paid; (2) whether that target is feasible against the 8.8M MWh capacity; (3) the break-even selling price if the plant operates at the full 8.8M MWh; (4) the required MWh if the price falls by 10%. Extension: if average output is limited to 1,000 MWh/day, quantify the shortfall relative to the 10% ROI requirement and propose two levers to close the gap.

Overview: This question tests financial modeling and quantitative analysis, including ROI computation, fixed versus variable cost accounting, capacity utilization, break-even analysis, and sensitivity analysis in an energy project context for a data scientist role.