Scheduling of cogeneration facilities operating under the real-time pricing agreement

South Africa's largest electricity supply industry (ESI), Eskom, has introduced a pilot project aimed at developing and introducing a real-time pricing (RTP) tariff to its customers. The potential electricity cost savings that this tariff will have on the cogeneration industry is modelled. The purpose of this study is to add more insight into the basic concepts surrounding the scheduling of cogeneration. The system configuration is discussed and simplified. The schematic model configuration show the model's input-output characteristics. The model consists of an energy and cost fraction section. After modelling the generation and steam shifting operations, the cost of electrical energy due to the implementation of the RTP tariff structure is calculated from the model. This cost is compared with the cost of energy after optimal Nightsave (Eskom's two-part demand and energy tariff) scheduling is carried out. The advantages that the RTP tariff holds for industries with cogeneration facilities is also discussed.