Q&A Hybrid energy systems

Here is a list of questions and answers from the “Unlock Hybrid Energy Systems with energyPRO” webinar.

Q&A:

Q: When it comes to multi-market optimizations, how many markets can energyPRO handle? And how robust are the available markets? There are so many different ways to earn with new energy and storage units.
A: energyPRO can handle more markets. As a user, you will have to specify time series of prices and the revenues related to participating in those markets. energyPRO will make sure that the units are operated according to technical and economic possibilities and constraints.

Q: Was there an interface to enter all inputs and is energyPRO able to import file results from windPRO and/or any other software like PVSyst and if yes in which format (text, binary, etc.)?
A: Yes, you can either copy/paste data directly into energyPRO via Excel or you can use the wizard to import CSV/TXT files into a time series in energyPRO.

Q: How compatible is it with other software?
A: You can use results from other software tools as input to energyPRO as shown in the webinar and described above.

Q: How flexible are the constraints in the optimization? Like, can we add constraints on the fly due to socio-economic reasons?
A: energyPRO offers full flexibility to assigning revenues and costs to the units in the system. That also includes carbon taxes and various incentives.

Q: Is the optimization linear or non-linear?
A: The solver used in energyPRO is a MILP solver, Mixed Integer Linear Programming. MILP finds the solution to a problem defined with linear constraints and objective function, where some of the variables can be binary or integer. The ability to describe an energy system with a set of linear constraints enables the use of a MILP Solver as a calculation method in energyPRO.

Q: Does it allow to simulate a system composed by PV, WIND, and BESS?
A: Yes, you can optimize and simulate the operation of many different assets. In addition to the above-mentioned, you can model complex systems including, for example, heating, cooling, and PtX.

Q: Was there a possibility to have this software under a demonstration limited license to learn more about its capabilities and how it works to help me make a decision to order a commercial license?
A: Yes, please reach out to our sales team – sales@emd.dk – for more information and support in the process.

Q: Are ancillary markets supported such as the Finnish reserve markets?
A: More markets can be set up in the tool. As a user, you will have to specify time series of prices (hourly) for the markets that should be included in the analysis.

Q: In exporting the time series, the wind hourly production is considered without losses applied (except wake losses)?
A: Wake losses are included together with calculated curtailment losses (wind sector management, bird/bat curtailment, noise curtailment, shadow flicker stops, etc.). In energyPRO, the loaded time series can be modified through a time series function if more deductions are needed.

Q: If we are planning to build a Hydrogen plant where energy is supplied via a wind farm behind the meter and is also connected to a grid to keep the plant in an ideal case or use the grid power to generate hydrogen during the low wind season. Can we optimize this scenario in energyPRO?
A: Yes, energyPRO can model complex sector-coupled systems including many different technologies including hydrogen and eFuels. It is also possible to keep track of the CO2 footprint for the system to ensure “green” hydrogen production.

Q: What are the major differences in simulation through energyPRO and Plexos?
A: We do not know Plexos in detail, so it is hard to give a good comprehensive answer.

Q: Is it possible to upload the PV hourly production as an external input source?
A: Yes, any time series (CSV/TXT, copy/paste from Excel) can be loaded into energyPRO.

Q: Currently, results from windPRO are linked to energyPRO. Are there any options to use 3rd party results in energyPRO? Especially Solar/PV software, e.g. PVSyst, PVCase, Helios3D, etc. results?

A: Yes, any time series (CSV/TXT, copy/paste from Excel) can be loaded into energyPRO.

Q: Can energyPRO be modeled for only PV+BESS+Grid connection?
A: Yes, it is not necessary to include a wind farm in the analysis. A simple model can later easily be modified to include even more complex systems.

Q: Does the complexity of the model influence the accuracy and reliability of the simulations?

A: The methodology behind the optimization model is using a MILP approach (details can be found here: HowToGuide). The accuracy and reliability are not affected by a high degree of complexity, but the calculation time might increase slightly for very complex models.

Q: Is Park analysis a part of energyPRO? or a additional purchase to windPRO?

A: PARK is a module of windPRO needed for estimating the power output from a wind farm including the wake and curtailments losses. It is there separate from energyPRO.

Q: In windPRO there is a hybrid module to optimize wind+pv+and battery. i can see energyPRO includes more different sources. except that, what is the main differences between hybrid module in windPRO and energyPRO optimization if we focus on three sources above?

A: energyPRO offers you the possibility to specify very advanced system with the aim of your specific use case. Additionally, there is the flexibility to model sector-coupling (heating, cooling, PtX, etc.). In windPRO HYBRID you can only evaluate pure power systems and the flexibility to define specific relations and revenue streams is limited.

Q: For Energy market optimisation/evaluation, is the price data an input or is it modelled? If it is modelled, how does it work when you only have a production plant and the grid in the model? (like in your first and second use cases)

A: Good input data is crucial for any energy system model. energyPRO is not modelling price data or try to forecast prices. You have the possibility to modify the price time series according to your expectations. This is done through the time series functions where you can modify the loaded time series according to your own predictions of the future.

Q: What is the source of electricity prices in energyPRO?

A: The electricity prices we normally use is historical prices for a given market. Prices for selected markets and countries are included in the energyPRO tool. You can load your own data and use those for the analyses.

Q: Where does the program collect the day-ahead prices?

A: It doesn’t in general. For selected countries and markets we offer data, but there is no real time update of day-ahead prices.

Q: Does energyPRO do any forecasting? Or does it only calculate for the periods you input data for?

A: No forecasting. Only the data loaded (including user modifications through the time series functions) is used in the analysis.

Q: In windPRO, when we are optimizing AEP, what sort of file we put in site climate or site resource?

A: An optimization in windPRO will be based on a wind resource map which can be calculated in windPRO. External resource maps (rsf, wrg and siteres can be used).

Q: How possibly handles energypro the weather and energy price forecasts that are important for the battery storage?

A: You include the weather and energy price time series yourself. energyPRO uses the time series deterministic. For sensitivity calculations, you can modify the time series and see the impact compared with the base calculation.

Q: Do you account for stochasticity for electricity prices and weather patterns when optimizing?

A: No.

Q: Can energyPRO also handle time steps <> 1-hour?

A: Yes, finest time scale is 1 minute going up to 60 min resolution.

Q: Does frequency of charging/discharging of BESS in BESS-PV-Wind Hybrid has some frequency limitations setup (once per day or once per week for example)? Can we also set minimal spread in market price when charge-discharge cycle appears?

A: The dispatch optimization in energyPRO is based on both the technical capabilities/limitations and the operational economy (revenues/costs). EnergyPRO will only allow a charge/discharge cycle if it is feasible. If you want to limit the number of cycles you can for example assign a degradation of the battery depending on number of cycles or a cost for charging/discharging cycle can be specified.

Q: Are wind farm and photovoltaic calculation more advanced in energy than windPRO?

A: The build-in units for a wind farm and a PV plant in energyPRO is somewhat simpler than the full analysis in windPRO. For a detailed study of a hybrid system, I suggest estimating the power output for the wind farm/PV plant in windPRO and use the data for detailed analysis in energyPRO.

Q: Is battery degredation handled in energyPRO? And with the degredation, how much less it will be able to earn in future years due to a smaller capacity?

A: Yes, it is possible to assign a degradation of storage capacity of the battery based on number of cycles. This will be taken into account when running an analysis for more years in energyPRO.

Q: Can energyPRO model peak demands and penalties, only at certain hours of the day?
A: Yes, you can include schedules and time series with varying penalties.

Q: Can we also have grid limit constraints?
A: Yes, the grid limitation can both be a constant limit and a time-varying limit. It is even possible to define different import and export grid limits.

Q: Is it possible to have projects that are not collocated?
A: Yes, the core of energyPRO is the time series, and the geographical location is not important for the analysis done. If you have a wind farm and a PV plant located in two different locations, you can still do the calculations.

Q: So would the optimize function resize the wind/PV/BESS sizes to best meet baseline load?
A: The optimize function will – if all three are selected in optimization – find the best mix of PV and wind together with the size of the BESS. A baseload will be a part of the optimization, and it is important to identify the costs related to not meeting the baseload demand.

Q: Can the number of cycles or the charge/discharge rate depend on ambient temperature?
A: Yes, the charge/discharge capacity can be formulated to depend on ambient temperature. The number of cycles is calculated based on storage capacity, which can also be formulated to depend on ambient temperature.

Watch the webinar here: Webinar on Hybrid energy systems with windPRO & energyPRO