Topic: Including costs other than variable OM in distribution branchSubscribe | Previous | Next
Agnes Kelemen 5/18/2016
134 Views Hello,
How can we add cost categories other than variable OM to the distribution branch? We have tried 2 ways to do this: adding user variables or ticking the 'capacities' box in properties. The disadvantage of the first solution is that user variables do not show up in the results, and we would like them to be there. The 2nd solution makes LEAP think that the distribution branch is producing electricity, which it isn't, and here also not all cost categories show up in the results. Is there any way around these issues?
Thank you for your help!
Emily Ghosh 5/19/2016
122 Views Hi Agnes,
User variables are appropriate for intermediate calculations or holding data, but alone they do not affect LEAP's social cost accounting nor do they appear in results view, as you have noted.
What kind of additional cost data do you want to include in your transformation module? If, for example, you wish to add capital costs (per unit of capacity) then you will need to ensure that both "Capacities" and "Costs" are enabled in the module properties screen. There is no conceptual difference between a module with or without capacity information: both modules are understood to produce electricity. You may think of an electricity distribution module as one which consumes electricity in order to produce electricity.
Note that you may still specify Module Costs (another cost variable in addition to Variable Cost) for modules without capacity data:
http://www.energycommunity.org/WebHelpPro/Transformation/Module_Costs.htm
Hope this helps,
Emily and Taylor
Agnes Kelemen 5/24/2016
113 Views Hi Emily and Taylor,
Thank you for your response. The issue still is that even if we do include costs other than variable OM (by not ticking simple non-dispatched module and ticking costs and capacities), when looking at the results we can only see stranded costs for the distribution branch. This does not change if we set the boundary of the cost-benefit calculation differently under General/Basic parameters, or if whether we view social costs/module costs/cost of production/etc. in the results. The other cost categories are not shown in the results. Are we doing something wrong?
Agnes
Taylor Binnington 5/25/2016
112 Views Hi Agnes,
I'm not quite clear on what you're trying to acheive. If you construct a transmission and distribution (T+D) module which has both the Capacities and Costs boxes enabled, have you then populated the Stranded Cost variable for your T+D processes? This is the only reason you should see nonzero stranded cost results for this module. Note that the appearance of Stranded Costs in the Module Cost Balance result does not depend on where you have set the Cost-Benefit Boundary in Basic Params, since Stranded Costs do not contribute to LEAP's social cost accounting (in other words, these costs only contribute to the Module Cost Balance and Cost of Production).
Two clarifying questions:
a) Which additional costs (i.e. Capital, Fixed O&M...) have you included in your T+D module, after having enabled Costs and Capacities in the module properties?
b) After doing this, what type of cost result are you trying to view, and how is the result shown in LEAP different than your expectations?
Thanks very much,
Taylor
Agnes Kelemen 5/25/2016
111 Views Hi Taylor,
We have created a module with costs and capacities and added data for the following cost categories: fixed OM, variable OM, capital and stranded costs. When viewing the results, only results for stranded costs can be seen. The aim was to be able to do an analysis from the transmission and distribution company perspective of how their costs would evolve under different scenarios, to be able to come to a conclusion about the revenues they need to cover these costs. Currently apparently costs are not being covered by revenues in Kyrgyzstan for transmission and distribution. So the aim is not to do a social CBA but a CBA from utility company perspective.
Agnes
Taylor Binnington 5/25/2016
110 Views Just to be certain - your Cost-benefit Calculation Boundary is set to either "Complete Energy System", or to a module which is lower in the tree than your T+D module?
If it is, then I'd like to have a quick look at your model. Would you be able to attach it to this thread, or alternatively, email it to leap@sei-us.org?
Thanks,
Taylor
Agnes Kelemen 5/25/2016