11-05-2018, 03:40 PM
Thanks for the clarification.
I did not realize that you were referring to the levelized cost reporting. The levelized cost reporting is done by post-processing from the model results. You can see the calculation formulation described in the documentation:
http://iea-etsap.org/docs/TIMES-Levelized-Cost.pdf
As described there, the levelized cost is indeed calculated for the main product. And, when you use the first option (RPT_OPT=–1), any emission prices or by-product revenues are excluded from the calculation. This means that the main product does indeed "carry" also the costs of any auxiliary products.
However, if using the second option (RPT_OPT=1), both emission prices and by-product revenues are included in the calculation, meaning that if "waste heat" is a by-product and it has a value, the levelized cost for the main product becomes lower than in the first option. The value is obtained from the marginal price of the waste heat commodity.
Finally, if using the third option (RPT_OPT=2), both emission prices and all product revenues are included in the calculation, including the revenue from the main product. This means that the reported value represents a "net unit cost".
Does that answer your question?
I did not realize that you were referring to the levelized cost reporting. The levelized cost reporting is done by post-processing from the model results. You can see the calculation formulation described in the documentation:
http://iea-etsap.org/docs/TIMES-Levelized-Cost.pdf
As described there, the levelized cost is indeed calculated for the main product. And, when you use the first option (RPT_OPT=–1), any emission prices or by-product revenues are excluded from the calculation. This means that the main product does indeed "carry" also the costs of any auxiliary products.
However, if using the second option (RPT_OPT=1), both emission prices and by-product revenues are included in the calculation, meaning that if "waste heat" is a by-product and it has a value, the levelized cost for the main product becomes lower than in the first option. The value is obtained from the marginal price of the waste heat commodity.
Finally, if using the third option (RPT_OPT=2), both emission prices and all product revenues are included in the calculation, including the revenue from the main product. This means that the reported value represents a "net unit cost".
Does that answer your question?