Economic Dispatch Software

The vendor required to provide economic dispatch software for three parts include:
•    Economic dispatch
•    Long-term planning
•    Setup, deployment, and support
- Economic dispatch
1. Portfolio optimization
•    The software should optimize generation for short term unit commitment, dispatch, and scheduling of generating units, solar generation, energy storage, and transmission transactions. 
2. Fuel consumption forecasting and modeling
•    The software should enable the user to specify the fuel(s) to be burned on each generating asset. 
•    Multiple units can burn the same fuel so that global limits can be imposed. 
•    The system should model min and max fuel constraints based on gas or calendar day. 
•    The program should optimize the fuel mix within these limits. 
•    The software should also support soft fuel constraints with penalties for violating limits.
3. Simulation scenarios
•    The software should analyze for both future and past trades. 
•    It should enable users to perform on-the-fly transaction costing based on a dispatch plan.
•    The user should have full control over which constraints (e.g., Ramping) are included and can specify – by unit – any operating constraints (e.g., Commit lock, dispatch lock) to maintain from the base generation plan.
4. Generating unit modeling
•    Software should enable the modeling of all types of generation assets such as gas turbine, oil, CCGT, multi-fuel, etc. 
•    Provide an extensive selection of detailed unit characteristics, such as warmth-varying start up profiles, chronological constraints, and multi-mode operation. 
•    Software should enable users to manage unit aspects such as quick start dispatched order.
5. Transaction costing and evaluation
•    Software transaction modeling capabilities should allow for transactions to be simulated as part of a standard study or to be part of a transaction evaluation study:
o    Buy or sell transactions 
o    Block forwards, swing, options
o    Forced or committable transactions with fixed or dispatchable energy or a/s profiles 
o    One or a group of assets serving one or a group of transactions
6. Post analysis
•    Performance analysis – real vs. actuals to determine out of merit costs due to data errors or forecast inaccuracies 
•    Transaction costing to determine the real cost of serving sale transaction and which units participated; and conversely, the real avoided cost of purchase transaction and which units’ participation was avoided.
•    Event costing to determine the cost of a unit outage, transmission line outage, fuel shortage, etc.
- Long-term planning
•    Comprehensive representation of electric system resources and requirements
•    Produce hourly load model with time scales ranging from one month to thirty years.
•    Ability to dispatch to forecast of load and energy requirements
•    Ancillary services modelling of self-supporting city grid
o    Regulation
o    Inertial reserve
o    10-minute non-spinning reserve
o    30-minute non-spinning reserve
o    Resource contributions to ancillary services requirements
•    Representation of various resource types
o    Thermal, solar
o    Energy storage
o    Combined heat and power
o    Contracts, power purchase agreements and tolling agreements
o    Swing, forwards, put and call options
o    Generation backup
o    Energy limited
o    Fixed energy
o    Load management
o    Price and load activated
o    Conservation
•    Representation of generating operating constraints
o    Generating unit operation and retirement dates
o    Minimum and maximum outputs
o    Commitment and dispatch priority
o    Heat rates
o    Average heat rate vs. mw output
o    Minimum fuel input and incremental heat rate vs. mw output
o    Polynomial representation of fuel input curve
o    Multiple fuel types and limitations by fuel type
o    Fuel and non-fuel startup costs
o    Shutdown costs
o    Fixed and variable o&m costs
o    Minimum up and down times
o    Planned maintenance schedules
o    Ability to distribute and optimize generator maintenance periods
o    Forced outage rate
o    Partial outage or deration
o    Multiple ancillary services and contribution to each
o    Multiple emissions types and rates per MWH output and per MMBTU fuel input
o    Ramp and runup rates
o    Combined cycle modeling
o    Ability to operate in simple cycle, 1x1 and 2x1 combined cycle operation
o    Ability to represent transition between operating states
- Setup, deployment and support
1. Setup and configuration phase
•    Create city-specific planning studies and workflow for short-term and long-term simulations with an option for database hosting services and an option for the city to host the database 
•    Separate databases for short-term and long-term simulations for hosted services 
•    Create usernames and roles and provide software security access
•    Configure city-specific operational run studies, input parameters, study constraints and dispatch time interval 
•    Identify and configure city-specific ancillary services 
•    Create base study runs for weekly and daily
•    Create job schedules and tasks for importing operation data (prices, load forecast, fuel, unit operational parameters, etc.) To support city business workflow 
•    Configure city output supporting reporting requirements 
•    Run simulation studies, inspect results and adjust as needed
2. Deployment and testing process
•    Execute user and system testing 
•    City to conduct user and system test with each test case 
•    Test results measured against expected results with variances explained to the city 
•    Assist the city in resolving issues discovered during testing 
•    Based on city review of test results, a go-live decision is rendered 
•    Conduct workshop training 
•    Provide software training focusing on the input, output and model execution workflow tailored to city. 
•    Training should include user interface, system administration features, and the specific base studies (fuel planning, short term unit commitment and dispatch) and workflows created for city. 
•    Software training to be conducted on site using city’s computing environment.
3. Rollout and support phase
•    City begins software production activities before the project team transitions city to maintenance support. 
•    The vendor project team coordinates a review of the project with city, identifying key findings of the project, project test, and reviewing outstanding issues, if any. 
•    Vendor project team provides an overview of their services.
4. Project management
•    Provide management and technical direction to the project team; 
•    Create and execute a project plan that identifies the project’s tasks, milestones and schedule for completing the implementation of software; 
•    Measure, track, and evaluate progress against the project schedule; 
•    Co-ordinate and manage the activities of the project team; 
•    Schedule and manage travel plan to city facilities in accordance with the project schedule; and 
•    Submit weekly status reports and conduct weekly conference calls with city.

- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 15, 2026