ProFastComp

ProFastComp#

The ProFastComp finance model calculates levelized cost of a commodity using ProFAST.

The inputs, outputs, and naming convention for the ProFastComp model are outlined in this doc page.

Finance parameters overview#

The main inputs for ProFastComp model include:

  • required: financial parameters (params section). These can be input in the ProFastBase format or the ProFAST format. These two formats are described in the following sections:

  • required: default capital item parameters (capital_items section). These parameters can be overridden for specific technologies if specified in the tech_config. Example usage of overriding values in the tech_config is outlined here

  • optional: information to export the ProFAST config or results to a .yaml file

finance_parameters:
  finance_model: "ProFastComp"
  model_inputs: #inputs for the finance_model
    save_profast_results: True #optional, will save ProFAST results to .yaml file in the folder specified in the driver_config (`driver_config["general"]["folder_output"]`)
    save_profast_config: True #optional, will save ProFAST the profast config to .yaml file in the folder specified in the driver_config (`driver_config["general"]["folder_output"]`)
    profast_output_description: "profast_config" #used to name the output file.
    params: #Financial parameters section
    capital_items: #Required: section for default parameters for capital items
      depr_type: "MACRS" #Required: depreciation method for capital items, can be "MACRS" or "Straight line"
      depr_period: 5 #Required: depreciation period for capital items
      refurb: [0.] #Optional: replacement schedule as a fraction of the capital cost. Defaults to [0.]
    fixed_costs: #Optional section for default parameters for fixed cost items
      escalation: #escalation rate for fixed costs, will default to `inflation_rate` specific in the params section
      unit: "$/year" #optional unit of the cost. Defaults to $/year
      usage: 1.0 #usage multiplier, most commonly is set to 1 and defaults to 1.0

Note

If you are setting save_profast_results to True and are using multiple finance subgroups, use the commodity_desc in each unique finance subgroup to ensure the output files get written correctly for each subgroup. See examples/19_simple_dispatch/plant_config.yaml for an example of this.

Output values and naming convention#

ProFastComp outputs the following data following the naming convention detailed below:

  • LCO<x_and_descriptor>: levelized cost of commodity in USD/commodity unit, e.g. LCOH_produced for hydrogen produced.

  • wacc_<commodity_and_descriptor>: weighted average cost of capital as a fraction.

  • crf_<commodity_and_descriptor>: capital recovery factor as a fraction.

  • irr_<commodity_and_descriptor>: internal rate of return as a fraction.

  • profit_index_<commodity_and_descriptor>

  • investor_payback_period_<commodity_and_descriptor>: time until initial investment costs are recovered in years.

  • price_<commodity_and_descriptor>: first year price of commodity in same units as levelized cost.

Naming convention:

  • <commodity_and_descriptor>:

    • if commodity_desc is not provided, then <commodity_and_descriptor> this is just commodity. For example, wacc_hydrogen if the commodity is "hydrogen".

    • if commodity_desc is provided, then <commodity_and_descriptor> is <commodity>_<commodity_desc>. For example, wacc_hydrogen_produced if the commodity is "hydrogen" and commodity_desc is "produced"

  • <x_and_descriptor>:

    • if commodity_desc is not provided, then <x_and_descriptor> is the upper-case first letter of the commodity. For example, LCOH if the commodity is "hydrogen"

    • if commodity_desc is provided, then <x_and_descriptor> is the upper-case first letter of the commodity followed by the commodity_desc descriptor. For example, LCOH_produced if the commodity is "hydrogen" and the commodity_desc is "produced".

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