Free RETScreen software will add an MTV tool
Varennes, Quebec, 12.08.2009 - REEEP International Secretariat
Funding from REEEP will assist in creating a monitoring, targeting and verification (MTV) tool for RETScreen, the free-of-charge project analysis software made available by the Government of Canada.
RETScreen looks at the energy production and savings, costs, emission reductions, financial viability and risk for various types of renewable-energy and energy-efficient technologies (RETs). The software currently has nearly 208,000 users in 222 countries, and is available in 35 languages covering 2/3 of the world’s population. More than 180 colleges and universities worldwide already include the software in their curriculum.
RETScreen allows decision makers and professionals to determine whether or not a proposed renewable energy, energy efficiency, or cogeneration project makes financial sense. If the project is not viable, RETScreen will help the decision maker understand this: quickly, unequivocally, in a user-friendly format, and at relatively minimal cost.
The software significantly reduces the costs - both financial and time - associated with identifying and assessing potential energy projects. These costs, which arise at the pre-feasibility, feasibility, development, and engineering stages, can be substantial barriers to the deployment of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies (RETs). By helping to break down these barriers, RETScreen reduces the cost of doing business in clean energy.
To date, RETScreen has been directly responsible for over $4 billion in user savings globally, a number expected to grow to well over $8 billion by 2013. By virtue of enabling clean energy, RETScreen indirectly contributes to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions—a reduction conservatively estimated at 20 million tonnes per annum by 2013. And by 2013, it is estimated that RETScreen will have helped spur the installation of at least 24GW of installed clean energy capacity worldwide with a value of approximately $41 billion.
The technologies included in RETScreen’s project models are all-inclusive, and include both traditional and non-traditional sources of clean energy as well as “cleaner” conventional energy. A sampling of these project models include: energy efficiency (from large industrial facilities to individual houses), heating and cooling (e.g., biomass, heat pumps, and solar air/water heating), power (including renewables like solar, wind, wave, hydro, geothermal, etc. but also cleaner conventional sources such as gas/steam turbines and reciprocating engines), and combined heat and power (or cogeneration).
Fully integrated into these analytical tools are product, project, hydrology and climate databases (the latter with 4,700 ground-station locations and NASA satellite data covering the entire surface of the planet), as well as links to worldwide energy resource maps. And, to help the user rapidly commence analysis, RETScreen has built in an extensive database of generic clean energy project templates.
Training is another integral feature of RETScreen. Available within the downloaded software or on the website are free training modules varying in length from single lecture to multi-day course. Taken together, the training modules are sufficient to run a 2-4 week intensive or a 1-2 semester regular course. Included in the training materials are:
- extensive webcasts, presentation slides, and instructor notes;
- numerous case studies including assignments, worked-out solutions, and information about how the projects fared in the real world;
- a detailed user manual
- an e-textbook which provides a detailed description of the algorithms used in the models
In May 2009, REEEP announced that it will help fund an additional monitoring, targeting and verification (MTV) tool to be added to a future version of the software. This tool will make it possible to record and attribute energy consumption and costs; identify energy problems and billing discrepancies; allow the user to prioritize energy capital investments (such as retrofits); evaluate energy management program success and communicate the results; create incentives for energy management; budget energy costs more accurately; and empower the user to negotiate lower energy prices.
RETScreen was developed by the Government of Canada through Natural Resources Canada’s CanmetENERGY research centre in Varennes, Quebec and is supported by an international network of experts from industry, government and academia. Principal partners include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and REEEP.