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
