Process simulation is the DNA to every project

Why is the digital twin so important for the power industry?
Unlike other industrial processes, power generation is directly linked to the consumers of its product, since electric power cannot be economically stored in the quantities needed to continuously balance supply and demand on the grid. Thus, most power plants must follow the load demand and operate under conditions which are different from their design conditions for most of the time. The growing share of renewable energy in the generation mix that stems from intermittent and highly fluctuating sources has dramatically aggravated this situation.

In order to create an optimal design for a new plant or the modification of an existing plant, the engineer must therefore evaluate proposed designs across the entire range of expected operating conditions.

For an existing plant operating in a deregulated competitive market environment, the accurate prediction of plant capacity and fuel consumption under expected conditions for the next day or week is essential to mitigate the risk of overcommitting plant capacity and to bid competitive prices sufficiently above actual cost of generation.