SEN Modelling
& Simulation
SEN’s renewable energy modelling uses an in-house developed toolkit including SIREN (SEN Integrated Renewable Energy Network) to model the output of actual and proposed renewable generating facilities and Powermatch to determine the optimum balance of generation technologies to load on the SWIS. The toolkit has been benchmarked against other simulation tools and the results independently validated and generally accepted by the various WA government agencies.
KEY FEATURES of SIREN and Powermatch
- Models actual and potential generation and transmission assets on the SWIS;
- Makes use of hourly operational load and weather data across multiple years;
- Models generation and storage to match load for each hour of the year and quantifies cost and CO2 emissions;
- Takes into account need to meet the minimum power demand at all times of the day, regardless of wind and sun conditions (security);
- Uses the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s provided System Advisor Model (SAM) for power calculations;
- Uses weather data obtained from satellite atmospheric data sets (MERRA-2 from NASA or ERA5 from ECMWF);
- Allows users to create, cost and evaluate scenarios for supplying electricity using a mixture of renewable energy types and locations;
- Free open source resource available for download.
This link will take you to the Siren Web interface where registered users can access Siren functionality.
Access Siren WebSEN Modelling Results
SEN’s modelling has been updated and presented on a number of occasions since 2016 and used in advocacy activities including briefings with government departments, politicians, media, environmental groups and the general public.
SWIS Coal Retirement
SEN has modelled the transition of the SWIS from predominately coal and gas to renewable energy. Model outputs are summarised in this October 2023 Presentation. Further information is available in Publications, including an Energy Security background paper
Commercial users are encouraged to donate to SEN in acknowledgement of the many hours the SIREN Team members volunteered to develop this powerful and adaptable modelling package.
