Why does a water utility need PLEXOS?
South Australian Water's energy strategy is based around the water utility being the primary electricity consumer in South Australia. Accounting for approximately 10% of the total energy demand for the region annually, or roughly 150 megawatts.
As part of SA Water's Zero Cost Energy Future project, over 150 megawatts of solar and 34 megawatt-hours of distributed battery energy storage have been installed, which has enabled the water utility to move toward spot market participation for energy consumption.
With PLEXOS, SA Water proactively manages price risk through more active power and water demand management, leveraging the flexibility within their wastewater and water systems to manage the load for both power and water systems.
We need to have good visibility or some way of handling price forecasts that extend over two to three days in an environment where the typical price forecast is only good for the next hour or so. How we make decisions that might extend over two or three days and produce stable schedules is crucial.
In the face of that uncertainty, PLEXOS's ability to handle the gap and implement stochastic optimization takes into account the uncertainty directly.
Dr. Robert May
Energy Optimization Specialist, SA Water
