Page 66 - Energize August 2022

TECHNICAL

• Technical: Technical performance will cost of the system by evaluating the ongoing maintenance and consumable costs of
be evaluated by considering geographic- various resources in the system. The energy model will simulate the performance of
specific criteria and risks, such as fuel various assets over the life of the project to assess the associated costs of running
availability, projected electrical load them. The model takes site-specific costs into account, such as fuel pricing and utility
growth, equipment efficiency and rates, and also calculates the cost of operation with different asset dispatch strategies.
degradation, and changing weather The model can calculate a LCOE, typically reported in $/kWh, which can be an easy
patterns to simulate real-world metric for comparing different solutions.
performance. These simulations will - Managing capital expenses or investment cost: By considering the price of each asset
show how the system will perform over and how it is used over the life of the project, the model can predict what the total
the predefined modelling duration, as cost of investment will be for the project, including any replacement required over the
the model evaluates parameters such as modelling period and any salvage value at the end of the project’s life. Certain assets
fuel consumption, hourly solar radiation may need to be replaced during the life of the project based on their lifecycle, duty
and PV panel output, battery charge cycles and usage, and accounting for these replacements ensures an accurate total
status and battery state of health, investment cost.
among others. - Reducing emissions: By accounting for the emissions from each asset, the model can
• Analysis-led design: Energy modelling be used to determine the system architecture that minimises the carbon footprint of
is an efficient way to design the system a site. Additionally, some incentives, building certifications or corporate sustainability
because any mix of assets in a system goals may require that some portion of the energy utilised is renewable. The model
can be simulated to understand can identify the level of renewable energy penetration for each solution to show which
financial and technical trade-offs. It solutions will best achieve these goals.
can easily drive the most appropriate - Improving resiliency: Energy modelling can help select a system that has higher
solution through the design phases reliability by simulating utility outages and ensuring that the available assets can meet
up to the final stages, as the design the load demand during scheduled and unscheduled outages.
can be adjusted to achieve the most • Load profile: The backbone of any energy modelling is the site load profile. The model uses
optimised mix of assets with no or little this information to identify and quantify the assets required to adequately meet the load
cost impacts. This can ensure that the demand at any given period in the day, week, month, and year. The more accurate the load
benefits that were projected in the
energy modelling phase are realised
when the project is implemented.

What is required to perform energy
modelling?
A successful energy model is directly
dependent on the accuracy of the model
inputs. An accurate energy model requires
site-specific information in order to perform
the simulations and optimise the asset mix
and sizing. Here are some of the critical data
points that are needed for an energy model:
• Objectives: It is important to determine
what the objectives of the desired
system are. In some projects there may Figure 1
be multiple objectives so it’s important
to rank them. Ranking the objectives
will help both the decision-maker and
the modeler adjust the model to get
the most optimised mix of assets and
ensures that the proposed solutions
meet the various objectives of the
project at the optimised total cost of
ownership. Some common objectives
for microgrids are shown here as an
example:
- Reduce system operating costs: A
model can determine the operating Figure 2

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