Generator

The Generator components attach to a single bus and can feed in power. They convert energy from their carrier to the carrier of the bus to which they attach. They can be used to represent dispatchable conventional power plants, renewable generators with variable availability, supply of grid electricity or biomass from an external source. With inverted sign, they can also be used to represent withdrawal of power at a given price or elastic demands following a linear demand curve.

When to use Link instead?

Use the Link component if you have the fuel of the generator represented by a Bus and you want to model the conversion of that fuel to electricity, e.g. a gas-fired power plant with a gas bus.

attribute	type	unit	default	description	status
name	string	nan	nan	Unique name	Input (required)
bus	string	nan	nan	Name of bus to which generator is attached	Input (required)
control	string	nan	PQ	P,Q,V control strategy for power flow, must be "PQ", "PV" or "Slack". Only relevant for "AC" and "DC" buses.	Input (optional)
type	string	nan	nan	Placeholder for generator type. Not implemented.	Input (optional)
p_nom	float	MW	0	Nominal power for limits on p in optimization. Ignored if p_nom_extendable=True.	Input (optional)
p_nom_mod	float	MW	0	Nominal power of the generator module (e.g. fixed unit size of a nuclear power plant). Introduces integer variables if set.	Input (optional)
p_nom_extendable	boolean	nan	False	Switch to allow capacity p_nom to be extended in optimization.	Input (optional)
p_nom_min	float	MW	0	If p_nom is extendable in optimization, set its minimum value.	Input (optional)
p_nom_max	float	MW	inf	If p_nom is extendable in optimization, set its maximum value (e.g. limited by technical potential).	Input (optional)
p_nom_set	float	MW	nan	If p_nom is extendable in optimization, set its value.	Input (optional)
p_min_pu	static or series	per unit	0.	The minimum output for each snapshot per unit of p_nom for the optimization (e.g. a minimal dispatch level for conventional power plants). Note that if committable=False and p_min_pu>0, this represents a must-run condition.	Input (optional)
p_max_pu	static or series	per unit	1	The maximum output for each snapshot per unit of p_nom for the optimization (e.g. changing availability of renewable generators due to weather conditions or a de-rating of conventional power plants).	Input (optional)
p_set	static or series	MW	nan	Active power set point (for optimisation and power flow)	Input (optional)
p_init	static	MW	nan	Active power used as a starting point for limiting the ramp in the very first snapshot (for optimisation)	Input (optional)
e_sum_min	float	MWh	-inf	The minimum total energy produced during a single optimization horizon.	Input (optional)
e_sum_max	float	MWh	inf	The maximum total energy produced during a single optimization horizon.	Input (optional)
q_set	static or series	MVar	0.	Reactive power set point (for power flow)	Input (optional)
sign	float	nan	1	Sign denoting the orientation of the dispatch variable (e.g. positive for generation, negative for consumption).	Input (optional)
carrier	string	nan	nan	Prime mover energy carrier (e.g. coal, gas, wind, solar); required for global constraints on primary energy in optimisation	Input (optional)
marginal_cost	static or series	currency/MWh	0.	Marginal cost of production of 1 MWh.	Input (optional)
marginal_cost_quadratic	static or series	currency/MWh	0.	Quadratic marginal cost of production of 1 MWh.	Input (optional)
active	boolean	nan	True	Whether to consider the component in optimization or not	Input (optional)
build_year	int	year	0	Build year of the generator.	Input (optional)
lifetime	float	years	inf	Lifetime of the generator.	Input (optional)
capital_cost	float	currency/MW	0	Fixed period costs of extending p_nom by 1 MW (e.g. annuitized investment costs). Used directly in optimization unless overnight_cost is specified.	Input (optional)
overnight_cost	float	currency/MW	nan	Overnight (upfront) investment cost per MW. If specified, PyPSA calculates annuity using discount_rate and lifetime. Takes precedence over capital_cost.	Input (optional)
discount_rate	float	per unit	nan	Discount rate for annuity calculation when using overnight_cost. Supports 0% rate (simple depreciation).	Input (optional)
fom_cost	float	currency/MW	0	Fixed period operation and maintenance costs per MW, added to annuitized investment cost.	Input (optional)
efficiency	static or series	per unit	1	Ratio output and primary energy carrier input (e.g. 0.4 MWhelec/MWhfuel). This is required for global constraints on primary energy in optimization.	Input (optional)
committable	boolean	nan	False	Apply unit commitment constraints.	Input (optional)
start_up_cost	float	currency	0	Cost to start up the generator. Only used if committable=True.	Input (optional)
shut_down_cost	float	currency	0	Cost to shut down the generator. Only used if committable=True.	Input (optional)
stand_by_cost	static or series	currency/h	0.	Stand-by cost for running the generator. This cost is incurred whenever the status is 1 (including when the dispatch decision is zero).	Input (optional)
min_up_time	int	snapshots	0	Minimum number of snapshots for status to be 1. Only used if committable=True. Does not consider snapshot weightings.	Input (optional)
min_down_time	int	snapshots	0	Minimum number of snapshots for status to be 0. Only used if committable=True. Does not consider snapshot weightings.	Input (optional)
up_time_before	int	snapshots	1	Number of snapshots that the generator was online before n.snapshots start. Only used if committable=True and min_up_time>0. Does not consider snapshot weightings.	Input (optional)
down_time_before	int	snapshots	0	Number of snapshots that the generator was offline before n.snapshots start. Only used if committable=True and min_down_time>0. Does not consider snapshot weightings.	Input (optional)
ramp_limit_up	static or series	per unit	nan	Maximum active power increase from one snapshot to the next, per unit of the nominal power. Ignored if NaN. Does not consider snapshot weightings.	Input (optional)
ramp_limit_down	static or series	per unit	nan	Maximum active power decrease from one snapshot to the next, per unit of the nominal power. Ignored if NaN. Does not consider snapshot weightings.	Input (optional)
ramp_limit_start_up	float	per unit	nan	Maximum active power increase at start up, per unit of the nominal power. Only used if committable=True. Ignored if NaN.	Input (optional)
ramp_limit_shut_down	float	per unit	nan	Maximum active power decrease at shut down, per unit of the nominal power. Only used if committable=True. Ignored if NaN.	Input (optional)
weight	float	nan	1	Weighting of a generator. Only used for network clustering.	Input (optional)
p	series	MW	0.	Active power at bus (positive if net generation)	Output
q	series	MVar	0.	Reactive power (positive if net generation)	Output
p_nom_opt	float	MW	0.	Optimised nominal capacity.	Output
status	series	nan	1	Status in the snapshot (1 is on, 0 is off). Only returned if committable=True.	Output
start_up	series	nan	1.	Whether the unit was started in the snapshot (1 is yes, 0 is no). Only returned if committable=True.	Output
shut_down	series	nan	1.	Whether the unit was shut down in the snapshot (1 is yes, 0 is no). Only returned if committable=True.	Output
mu_upper	series	currency/MWh	nan	Shadow price of upper p_nom limit	Output
mu_lower	series	currency/MWh	nan	Shadow price of lower p_nom limit	Output
mu_p_set	series	currency/MWh	nan	Shadow price of fixed power generation p_set	Output
mu_ramp_limit_up	series	currency/MWh	nan	Shadow price of upper ramp up limit	Output
mu_ramp_limit_down	series	currency/MWh	nan	Shadow price of lower ramp down limit	Output