PLEXOS is an integrated energy modeling software that uses optimization techniques to provide comprehensive and robust tools for power market analysis. It can be used for electricity price forecasting, generation planning, transmission analysis, and other energy sector applications. The software models conventional and renewable generation, hydro systems, electricity and gas networks, emissions, and financial aspects of energy markets. It has a global customer base including large utilities, system operators, and analysts.

1. PLEXOS®
Integrated Energy Model
Lea d ing the f ie ld i n
Energy Market Modelling

2. Wh at P L E XO S ® I nte grate d E n e rg y M o d e l i s
PLEXOS® Integrated Energy Model (PLEXOS Desktop Edition) is a proven power market
simulation software that uses cutting-edge mathematical programming and stochastic
optimisation techniques, combined with the latest user-interface and data handling
approaches to provide the most comprehensive, easy-to-use and robust analytical
framework for power market modellers.
Fu n c t i o n s a n d a p p l i cat i o n s o f P L E XO S
Below is a categorisation of some of the functions that PLEXOS is used for:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Price Forecasting
Power Market Simulation and Analysis
Detailed Operational Planning and Optimisation of Power Plants and Grid
Trading and Strategic Decision Support
Generation and Transmission Capacity Expansion Planning (Investment Analysis)
Renewable Integration Analysis
Co-optimisation of Ancillary Services and Energy Dispatch
Transmission Analysis and Congestion Management
Portfolio Optimisation and Valuation
Risk Management and Stochastic Optimisation
The wide range of features of PLEXOS has led to its use in many areas of the energy
sector. Globally, the types of users of PLEXOS include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Power Generation Companies
Transmission System Operators
Electricity Market Operators
Energy Commission and Regulators
Energy Traders
Price Forecasting Agencies
Power Plant Manufacturers
Power Plant Construction Companies
Consultants
Academics and Research Institutions

3. S i m u l at i o n an d fo re c a s t i n g s o l u t i o n o f c h o i ce
Since its first release in 2000, PLEXOS has emerged as the power market simulation
tool of choice, with a customer base spanning the globe and including many of the
world’s largest and most sophisticated utilities and system operators. PLEXOS
simulation results are renowned for accuracy and robustness and have provided the
quantitative backbone to numerous publications, expert testimony, benchmarks,
policy documents and thought leadership pieces.
Trusted worldwide to provide the insights and market analysis required by generation
companies, regulators, system operators, transmission companies and independent
analysts PLEXOS is the solution of choice for:
•
Electricity Price Forecasting – From day-ahead clearing prices to long-term price
forecasts, PLEXOS rigorous fundamental market framework offers unparalleled
options for price forecasting. Starting from cost-based short-run marginal costs
to competitive bidding based on game theoretic models, empirical models or
heuristic methods.
•
Capacity Expansion Planning – Optimal generation and transmission expansion
planning over any timeframe. PLEXOS expansion utility has been built into the
comprehensive production model, allowing users to control the level of accuracy
of their production cost model without the need to create complex external
integration loops between decoupled modules.
•
Generation and Transmission Asset Valuation – The extensive range of detailed
operational characteristics allow PLEXOS to provide the most accurate asset
performance valuations in any market situation.
•
Market Analysis and Design – Examine the effect of a range of proposed market
developments and regulations on generation mix, inter-regional flows, prices and
profits.
•
Transmission Analysis – PLEXOS is used extensively by Transmission System
Operators (TSO) to examine and optimise transmission operation and congestion
costs.
•
Portfolio Optimisation – The powerful optimisation engines underlying PLEXOS
allows users to achieve the best possible outcome from their generation assets,
contractual terms and limited resources in an uncertain world.
•
Stochastic Optimisation – This ensures decisions are robust with respect to the
uncertainty in future inputs including fuel prices, load growth, renewable uptake
and generation. PLEXOS includes integrated stochastic optimisation of building
decisions, hydrology operating policies, transmission expansion and unit
commitment.
PLEXOS
I nte grate d
E n e rg y
M odel
®

4. Simulator Features
Co nve nt i o n al G e n e rat i o n
PLEXOS offers over 150 potential technical-economical generation characteristics
ensuring accurate representation on generation operation and more features such as:
•
•
Deterministic and stochastic unit commitment on/off decisions with random and
foreseeable outages
•
Temperature dependent operation and detailed ramping response behaviour
•
Multiple fuel optimisation with complex fuel transitions and operational modes
•
•
Compartmentalised combined cycle modelling featuring non-convex heat rates,
start-up/shutdown profiles and unit operational dependencies
H yd ro M o d e l l i n g
Full representation and optimisation of realistic cascading hydro networks and
generators featuring GIS visualisation from Google Earth and more features such as:
•
•
Efficiency curves, head storage dependency, waterway flow delay times, spillways,
evaporation, deterministic and stochastic solutions over any horizon
•
•
Seamless integration with detailed short-term unit commitment via target volumes
or future opportunity cost decomposition
•
•
Potential Energy model for simple closed-loop systems or water balance ‘Volume’
or ‘Level’ models for complex cascade hydro networks
•
Pumped storage energy and ancillary services market co-optimisation
I nte r m i t te nt R e so u rce M o d e l l i n g ( Wi n d a n d S o l a r )
Evaluate the full effect of intermittent resources on system operation, market prices or
generation plant valuation and more features such as:
•
•
•
Capacity to model one minute level variations in load or generation caused by
intermitted resources and the effect on system stability, ancillary service and
ramping provision
•
Various autoregressive models for wind speed, solar radiation and natural inflows
•
Stochastic optimisation of forecast uncertainty
Gas Modelling
Fully integrated energy model cooptimises electricity and gas system dispatch.
Includes models of gas fields, storages, pipelines, nodes and gas demands and more
features such as:
•
•
Integrates with long-term planning to produce expansion plans for gas and electric
infrastructure
•
•
Models constraints on short and mid-term gas supply and its impact on electricity
production

5. An c i l l a r y S e r v i ce s
Ancillary service provision co-optimised with generation dispatch and unit
commitment and more features such as:
•
•
Multiple reserve classes including spinning up and down, regulation up and down,
and replacement services
•
•
Detailed treatment of start-up and shutdown combined with ramping and reserve
interaction minute-by-minute
Em i ssi o n s
Generation dispatch constrained by emission limits and/or reflective of emissions
price and number of emission types and more features such as:
•
•
Optimisation of emission allocations over multiple fuels, generating units and
regional rules
•
•
Flexible grouping for emission constraint sets over any timeframe including
multi-annual
Tran sm i ssi o n
Optimal power flow with losses fully integrated with dispatch and unit commitment,
and more features such as:
•
Large connection of multiple AC networks, 10,000’s buses and lines
•
Security and n-x contingency constraints (SCUC), DC lines and phase shifters
•
•
Generic constraints and interface limits, transmission aggregation, network
reduction
•
•
Nodal pricing and decomposition into energy, congestion and marginal loss
components
Fi n an c i a l
Comprehensive financial reporting to Generator, Region and Company level and more
features such as:
•
•
•
Dynamic bidding of generation resources reflective of contract position and/or
medium term revenue requirements based on recovery of build costs from capacity
expansion planning
•
•
Bertrand and Cournot games, flexible user-defined mark-up definitions and
empirical schemes such as Residual Supply Index (RSI)
•
Physical, Financial and Fuel contract obligations
•
Financial transmission rights (FTR) and Settlement Residue Auction (SRA)
PLEXOS
I ntegrate d
E n e rg y
M o d el
®

6. S co p e an d Co m p at i b i l i t y
Highly configurable timeframe and simulation interval as short as one minute and more
features such as:
•
Choose between regional, zonal and full-nodal network detail
•
•
Multiple pricing, uplift and capacity payment options to support various market
rules
•
•
Choice of commercial mathematical programming engines (CPLEX, Gurobi, MOSEK,
Xpress-MP)
Conve nt i o n a l G e n e rat i o n

7. Tra n s m i s s i o n
Cu sto m i zat i o n
PLEXOS COM libraries and OpenPLEXOS automation features allow user execution
control from simple external PLEXOS engine calls, custom pricing schemes to advanced
custom algorithm calls at different runtime stages. PLEXOS features a friendly generic
custom constraints builder that allows users to introduce custom expansion and
operational limitations such as expansion reliability policies, transmission proxies, water
irrigation conventions and more.
D at a M a n a ge m e nt
Long-term to short-term ready to execute models can co-exist in the same integrated
database. Import/export from known industry standards help users get started with
PLEXOS quickly and easily.
PLEXOS
I nte grated
En ergy
M o de l
®

8. Wh at PL E XO S ® Co n n e c t is
PLEXOS® Connect is the distributed, client-server system to complement the
PLEXOS Desktop Edition simulation tool. The product enables users to:
•
Collaborate in preparing input data for simulations
•
Track changes to input data and maintain a version history.
•
•
Distribute simulations for parallel execution over multiple client computers
or to the cloud
•
Remotely manage distributed simulation jobs
•
Easily share, compare and review simulation results
PLEXOS Connect allows you to control which computers jobs run on, the version
of input data used, and even the version of the simulation engine. This allows you
to keep a complete history of inputs, simulation engines and solutions.
There are three main components in PLEXOS Connect:
P L E XO S Co n n e c t S e r ve r
The server is the centralised data-storage manager. It resides in the
core of the network system and controls the data security, network
configuration, permission hierarchy and simulation engine version
control.
P L E XO S Co n n e c t C l i e nt
Clients query the server for inputs to perform simulations. All
PLEXOS execution jobs queued on the server are dispatched to
these computers for execution. On completion, the results are sent
back to the server for storage and retrieval.
P L E XO S Co n n e c t L a u n ch Co nt ro l
Launch Control is the interface used to configure executions,
retrieve/upload datasets and solutions, modify network
configuration, administrate permissions and more. It can be used
from a remote computer, client computer or within the server itself.

9. C l i e nt s
S er ver
Perform PLEXOS®
executions.
Data-storage
manager.
R esults
Configure all simulation
executions from here.
R es ul ts
La u n c h Co nt ro l
Data s et & Engine
Dataset &
Engi ne
Sys te m Arc h i te c t u re
L a u n c h Co nt ro l I nte r fa ce

10. Leading the field in
Energy Market Modelling
Energy Exemplar Pty Ltd
Energy Exemplar Ltd
Software Development
Europe Office
3/ 154-160 Prospect Road,
Prospect, Adelaide
SA 5082 Australia
Tel: +44 208 899 6500
Email: europe@energyexemplar.com
Tel: +61 8 8342 9616
Email: info@energyexemplar.com
Energy Exemplar LLC
Energy Exemplar LLC
West Coast USA Office
East Coast USA Office
Tel: +1 916 304 0555
Email: westcoastusa@energyexemplar.com
Tel: +1 860 461 0761
Email: eastcoastusa@energyexemplar.com
e n e r g ye xe m p l a r. c o m