The influence of an open system blade cooling on the efficiency of the humid air turbine has been analyzed. It has been assumed that three stages of the turbine are cooled by means of compressed air taken from the outlet of the compressor. The thermodynamic analysis showed, that the deleterious impact of blade cooling results mainly from the irreversibility of mixing of cooling air with the working fluid. The influence of the blade cooling on the optimum operational parameters of HAT turbine (compression ratio, excess air, air humidity and preheated air temperature) has been analyzed too.This paper was presented at the ECOS’99 Conference in Tokyo, June 8-10, 1999