Create a readme for interested external experts to refer to?

[AlexanderWirtz]

Merit Order is too complex to explain properly in pop-ups. Let's create a wiki item or further reading in merit to link to. I assume I am not the only one who wants this, but cannot find a ticket for it elsewhere.

[wmeyers]

There already is one: http://wiki.et-model.com/index.php/Merit_order

I think it could be better though. It explains how it works, but not how to interpret the results, which I think the user is interested in in the end.

[wmeyers]

From etmodel issue:

We should have an explanation of some of the common things people might see when they have the merit order module turned on. The start of a list:

1. When there are too many plants it becomes very hard for any one to make a profit
2. One small plant that produces only a little bit of electricity can keep a whole bunch of other plants from making a profit
3. Please add :- )

[dennisquintel]

Since Merit is a private repository, this information should be included in the Wiki. Assigning @AlexanderWirtz.

[AlexanderWirtz]

Thanks @wmeyers and @dennisschoenmakers The issue then is that the wiki entry is not referred to and not complete. The examples @wmeyers wants should be there

[ChaelKruip]

The examples @wmeyers wants should be there

In principle I concur. A section that explains the behavior of profitability calculation in some didactically interesting cases is useful. The two examples by @wmeyers are not completely clear to me yet, however:

1. When there are too many plants it becomes very hard for any one to make a profit

Do you mean the the installed capacity is much more than needed to satisfy demand? In that case: yes! (because the FLH per plant become very low)...

1. One small plant that produces only a little bit of electricity can keep a whole bunch of other plants from making a profit

@wmeyers can you formulate this more precisely? I don't understand what you mean, and I can come up with several situations that show the opposite of this statement. For example, a gas-turbine with few FLHs actually increases the profitability of all other plants because it has high marginal costs.

[wmeyers]

@ChaelKruip your questions just show my marginal understanding of the whole module!

Do you mean the the installed capacity is much more than needed to satisfy demand? In that case: yes! (because the FLH per plant become very low)...

Yes, and this is not always shown in the profitability table, see quintel/etmodel#1197 steps 4-7, FLH stays the same but profitability goes up. Or am I missing something else there?

@wmeyers can you formulate this more precisely? I don't understand what you mean, and I can come up with several situations that show the opposite of this statement. For example, a gas-turbine with few FLHs actually increases the profitability of all other plants because it has high marginal costs.

See my example with nuclear here: quintel/etmodel#1194 steps 4 and 5. When Nuclear is still there in step 4 profitability is super low, when you remove that plant suddenly profitability goes way up.

The fact that it can give different results depending on marginal costs is exactly what makes it puzzling, so I think these would be good examples to add in the documentation! :-)

[dennisquintel]

All right guys, thanks for your points. Let's call a meeting together after the deploy to discuss what and how we can do to improve the general understanding of the model for users, since this is sometimes pretty difficult to comprehend.

[wmeyers]

Just to make sure: put on hold and reopened

[Richard-Deuchler]

Some thoughts after reading this ticket:

• the merit order module makes it harder to build green scenarios while keeping the costs low. (For example, load the 80% and 99% scenario and turn merit order on).
• Installing too many (conventional) power plants (too much generation capacity) will lead to low profitability. If MO is off, all excess electricity is exported. These exports generate revenues and allow plants to run profitably although they do not contribute to the Dutch demand. BUT: turning on the merit order will limit all dispatchables (mainly nuclear, gas, coal) in their operation time. With merit order on, only superfluous wind and solar are exported. Conventional plants can no longer export, as they are only used to meet the Dutch demand. In consequence, they loose profitability. [This will become even more interesting when import/export is added to the module]
• The MO also generates an hourly curve for the price of electricity. We should consider how this information can be fed back into the main ETM. See https://github.com/quintel/merit/issues/61
• I also made another post in https://github.com/quintel/etmodel/issues/1194#issuecomment-11566217

[ChaelKruip]

I have started a new wiki entry for the second incarnation of the MO. This needs to be extended and completed but I want to make you aware of its existence.

[ChaelKruip]

I have extended and improved wiki entry mentioned above. TODO:

• It should be read critically and made more readable for non-experts
• Several (two?) examples should be added and 'explained'.

Assigning to @Richard-Deuchler

[ChaelKruip]

@Richard-Deuchler perhaps the example in this ticket can serve as a start...

[Richard-Deuchler]

http://wiki.quintel.com/index.php/Merit_order_Part_Two is revised. Assigning back to @ChaelKruip

[ChaelKruip]

Replaced the content of http://wiki.quintel.com/index.php/Merit_order with that of http://wiki.quintel.com/index.php/Merit_order_Part_Two. Now the ETM links to the updated info. Closing.