PanPac’s Whirinaki site utilises a steam turbine to generate electricity at particular times of the year. The turbine was initially installed to help reduce a wood fuel surplus, however as the site has grown the amount of spare fuel has dwindled. To PanPac, it made sense to operate the turbine under some conditions, such as when the electricity spot price reaches a certain level; however PanPac needed assistance to identify what that level actually was.
DETA Consulting prepared a detailed model of the site, allowing various fuel cost scenarios to be investigated. The model was designed to be easy to use soPanPac could use this themselves to identify the lowest plant operation cost given certain production and utility supply constraints.
The new model allows PanPac to operate their site utilities at the lowest possible cost given the constraints they have on any particular day.