With increasing global focus on optimum allocation of scarce financial and capital intensive resources and the deregulation of the electrical power industry, utilities and private power producers are striving to maximise the efficiency of electricity generation and delivery whilst providing acceptable reliability and security of supply to consumers. SMEC has taken a leading role in providing consulting services in this area in many countries and in developing sophisticated computer software systems to assist optimal planning of power systems. 

SMEC's approach combines surveys of stake-holders to obtain first-hand information on constraints and issues which limit efficiency, and sophisticated computer modelling to permit use of state-of-the-art optimisation and simulation techniques to analyse energy systems and to investigate scenarios for improved performance. SMEC tempers its high-technology engineering analysis with a sensitivity to local issues and culture to provide its clients with realistic workable proposals for enhanced performance of the energy infrastructure.

SMEC's capability in the electricity sector and in energy management software applications has been established and refined through years of research and development in direct association with power utilities around the world. The capability includes the application of the latest sophisticated computerised tools and methods to generation planning problems and the formulation and development of tailor-made software products where necessary. 

The in-house software packages developed by SMEC for energy planning and management range from power system planning and optimization to power system reliability assessment, and are used by satisfied clients all round the world. The key areas of application of these software packages include:

Power system planning and optimisation 

• long term power system planning using dynamic programming and probabilistic simulation techniques 
• transmission and distribution planning 
• power system operation optimisation 
• rural electrification using grid supply and renewable energy 
• alternative scenario analysis combining generation with transmission to supply dispersed load centres 
• optimization of power generation installations that integrate and supply electricity to existing power systems, including determination of power station size, type and operating modes 
• optimization of coordination of thermal and hydro energy resources, including pumped storage 
• study of environmental benefits/costs for power installations 
• study of alternative generation types for small scale supply

Power system reliability assessment 

• composite power system reliability assessment 
• unserved energy costing and analysis 
• load flow and stability analysis.

Load forecasting 

• long, medium and short term load forecasting using: 
  • a range of statistical analyses methods 
  • segregation of load forecast by tariff category and land zone 
  • advanced spatial techniques where appropriate zoning exists 
  • site measured statistics using appropriate recording instruments 
• integration of load forecasts into generation, transmission, distribution and financial system models.