Greetings,

As I knew, capacity credit and maximum availability are important parameters for modelling power plants in LEAP. I have a question :

1. Currently, I still confused about the differences between Capacity Credit and Maximum Availability. Because, as I knew, those were roughly the same.

I know that they are literally two different parameter input in LEAP,

But let's say that :

- We have a process (power plant) call it Buba Gas Turbine Power Plant, that has 80% Capacity Credit (towards Reserve Margin) ;

That also has same meaning with "The process maximum availability of the Buba Gas Turbine power plant to be dispatched is only 80% throughout years", isn't it?

- Or if there is a process power plant, Jack Jo Wind Turbine Power Plant (which has low capacity credit let's say 20% Capacity credit)

That also the same with statement "The maximum availability of Jack Jo Wind Turbine Power Plant is only 20% throughout years", isn't it?

I know, It is hard to explain the question, but I do not know, in my opinion, those two parameters sounds like same meaning.

I hope my question could be understood properly.

Thank you so much for anybody who reply and answer my questions. I really appreciate it.

Best Regards,

Tri Ilham Wicaksono

Capacity Credit and Maximum Availability are not the same, which means that your two examples (involving Buba Gas and Jack Jo Wind) describe situations which are not equivalent.

Capacity Credit: There are a handful of very slightly different definitions that you will encounter, and the definition is often made with reference to the characteristics of a specific power system. In LEAP, the Capacity Credit variable is interpreted to be the percentage of a generator's installed capacity which contributes to the module's reserve margin. LEAP's reserve margin calculations do not affect how the software dispatches capacity to produce energy - the reserve margin is simply a metric which is used to decide when additional capacity is required.

Maximum Availability: This is the maximum percentage of a generator's installed capacity which may be called upon to produce power during each time slice. It's similar to the Capacity Factor (the average amount of capacity which is used over a period of time), but is unrelated to the Capacity Credit.

Hope this helps,

Taylor

Thank you so much for your answer, now I've already knew the differences.

Regards

Tri Ilham

We recommend that you review the following help pages on how to estimate capacity credit and reserve margin, and to understand how these variables are used in LEAP.

Capacity Credit: https://www.energycommunity.org/Help/Transformation/Capacity_Value.htm

Reserve Margin: https://www.energycommunity.org/Help/Transformation/Planning_Reserve_Margin.htm

Note that LEAP adds endogenous capacity to meet the Planning Reserve Margin when there are insufficient reserves in any given year. Therefore, we encourage you to also review the help page on the Endogenous Capacity variable, in case you already haven't done so.

Endogenous Capacity: http://www.energycommunity.org/WebHelpPro/Transformation/Endogenous_Capacity.htm

Hopefully this helps answer your questions, but if you require further clarification, please let us know.

Emily

Thanks again

The Planning Reserve Margin is the quantity of "reliable" generation capacity above peak demand requirements, and is expressed as a percentage of peak demand in LEAP. This value is typically set by a region's electricity system operator. If the Planned Reserve Margin is unavailable to you, you can use the formula on LEAP's help page to estimate the historical reserve margin that the system operators typically use.

Capacity credit is used to measure the reliability of a power plant. To determine the capacity credit of conventional electricity generation technologies, such as thermal power plants, calculate out the percentage of a plant's firm capacity relative to its installed capacity. Then, normalize the values so that the most "reliable" plant is assigned a capacity credit of 100%.

Estimating the firm capacity of renewable plants is more complex due to its intermittent nature. There is a significant body of literature on various methods to estimate the capacity credit of renewable resources which will help guide your thinking. Here are some studies to get you started:

If you only have the annual capacity factor (or availability) for each power plant, I would propose using this value as a "starting point" to estimate the plant's capacity credit.

Hope this helps,

Emily & Taylor