Case Study: SgurrEnergy improves solar PV LCOE analysis with ETAP

SgurrEnergy cuts LCOE by $2.45/MWh with ETAP

SgurrEnergy, a global renewable energy consultancy, needed to accurately evaluate how reactive power support obligations for a 140 MW solar PV plant impacted its Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). Standard LCOE methods ignored the reduction in active energy output caused by inverters providing reactive power, which affected the plant's revenue and made it difficult to prepare winning bids for utility-scale tenders. They used ETAP power flow and digital twin applications to address this challenge.

Using ETAP, SgurrEnergy modeled multiple operating scenarios to isolate the impact of reactive power on energy yield. The ETAP solution provided a clear comparison of inverter-only operation versus capacitor-assisted compensation, quantifying how power factor requirements affect financial returns. The analysis demonstrated that appropriate compensation could recover $2.45/MWh, a critical margin for winning bids, and helped reduce the LCOE back toward ideal values.

SgurrEnergy