HydroXpert SAS releases SIMAHPP5 to analyze and valuate single to multipurpose hydropower projects
SIMAHPP for Windows Platform simulates the feasibility of hydropower projects combining hydraulic, financial, and environmental parameters. Since its first release in 2009, SIMAHPP served hydropower professionals in 30+ countries.
March 24, 2016, Meylan
Global warming is known to be caused by greenhouse effects due to high carbon emissions from non-renewable energy sources (oil, gas and coal). The potential depletion of non-energy sources and the environmental issues accelerated the development renewable energy. Hydropower, wind, and solar are the main alternative energy sources categorized under renewables. Hydropower has demonstrated as a proven and matured technology with a high level of reliability, high efficiency and low operating & maintenance costs. In addition, hydropower does not produce waste products that contribute to air pollution and greenhouse gases. However, as most projects, investing in hydropower projects involves risks. The main obstacles in developing hydropower projects are availability of funding, matching project goals to cover investment costs by producing positive returns, and environmental issues with respect to population displacement, wildlife and aquatic biodiversity losses, forest clearance, and so on.
SIMAHPP5 is designed to undertake feasibility studies, analysis and reporting on hydropower projects by integrating hydraulic, financial, and environmental parameters. SIMAHPP5 handles multi-site, multi-option, and multi-purpose hydro-system simulations to deliver analysis on energy production; costs-and benefits; environmental impacts and management plans; equipment and materials as follows:
Energy Production: analysis on the energy production capacity of the hydropower scheme provides with results on net head using three head loss methods, design flow from FDC (Flow-Duration Curve), design time of operation for maximizing energy, optimum power capacity, and maximum energy production
Economic Analysis: analysis on the financial feasibility the hydropower scheme provides with results on energy sales revenue, carbon market revenue, additional revenues from (multi-purpose) from domestic water supply, irrigation water, flood control, navigation, recreation, fisheries, investment cost, investment cost/kW, investment cost/kWh, O&M cost, net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), payback period, amortization plan
Environmental Impact and Management Plan: analysis on environmental impact and the management plan of the hydropower scheme provides with results on emission reduction, population displacement, wildlife migration, aquatic habitat losses, forest clearance, land use change, resettlement program, watershed management, tree planting, and public awareness program
Equipment and Materials: analysis on the system characteristics results in the type of equipment and material that can be taken in to consideration, noting that the information obtained from the analysis is principally to guide the project manager to the possible option. The resulting information are turbine type, specific speed, penstock size and penstock material
Benefits
Among the key benefits of using SIMAHPP
SIMAHPP5 is available in three packages: Standard, Professional, and Enterprise.
SIMAHPP5 Standard: The Standard package allows to complete basic simulations and analysis to evaluate the feasibility of one or more hydropower projects. It is limited to hydropower systems with less than 10 MW capacities. It is applied only for single purpose (hydroelectricity) project.
SIMAHPP5 Professional: The Professional package consists of all capabilities of the Standard package plus its applicability for a wide range of system capacity, below or above 10 MW. In addition, with the Professional package, one can undertake sensitivity analysis with respect to main input parameter, head and flow, and the investment costs. It can be applied for both single and multipurpose project.
SIMAHPP5 Enterprise: In addition to all the capabilities and features available in the Professional package, the Enterprise package allows to enter multi-year data up to 50 years or more, compared to the Professional package which is only up to 30 years. Moreover, it adds more flexibility to the professional package by allowing SIMAHPP project files backup and duplication so that new project data can easily and rapidly be set up with slight modification of the base project data. With the Enterprise package, multiple users’ license (machine independent) is possible though purchasing Floating License. This is particularly interesting for medium to large companies where there are multiple project team.
How to obtain SIMAHPP5
We have now set a flexible delivery system for two groups of our clients:1) In-house use and 2) outsourcing service to HydroXpert. With In-house use, the client can purchase the tool and manage its use through our technical support with regard to installation and program operation. With outsourcing service, the client may assign HydroXpert to conduct the simulation and provide the analysis report. In the latter case, depending of the project size, SIMAHPP5 can be delivered as part of the service package, setting the price of SIMAHPP as free.
For more information, please visit our website at www.hydroXpert.com or contact us through our contact information on our website.
Incorporated under French law in the form of a société and headquartered in France, HydroXpert SAS provides engineering consultancy and development services in the water, energy, and environment to clients in industry, collectivity, and government and non-government organizations in France and abroad.