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Foresight s Advanced Power Generation Task Force has recommended that an initiative should be undertaken to produce a Virtual Plant Demonstration Model. The Stepping Stones to Sustainability report of the Foresight s Energy and Natural Environment Panel recommends a priority area for R and D on low and close-to-zero emission power generation ; a realistic VPDM will be a key tool in ensuring the UK can successfully develop fossilfuelled commercial plant that delivers this.

The VPDMshould reduce the need for full-scale demonstrations of advanced power station technologies, which for large plant typically cost 100 s million and should also reduce commissioning times for new plant. It will also help in the development of new technologies and assist in avoiding deadend developments. Finally, it will be of benefit to existing plant by being able to model new technology upgrades, which couldbe a major business in some ma rkets where existing coal plant could become marginalised.

Specific objectives are:

• identify the benefits and future requirements for a Virtual Plant Demonstration Model (VPDM) for pf and GT/IGCC plant, taking note of potential long term power plant developments
• review UK capability in power plant modelling needed to meet requirements, through discussions with both participants and UK power industry contacts
• review the worldwide capability in power plant m odelling through literature searches, industry contacts, public domain sources
• identify where existing plant models can be applied with benefit to current needs
• identify developments needed to produce a CPDM for present and future clean coal technologies
• organise a UK workshop to discuss and provide guidance on: needs and benefits of a VPDM; current modelling capability; optimum way forward. Invitations to attendwill be sent to interested parties in industry, academ ia and goverment
• produce a Technology Status Report summarising the work of this project and the output from the workshop. This report will include a recommended strategy for producing a successful VPDM

The UK has a track record of power plant development and operation that is second to none. However the UK has at times fallen down on getting these developments into the market place; the ABGC and some IGCC designs are examples of this. In the case of GTs, new developments have been pushed through into the market place but often they have been accompanied by major commissioning, operation and maintenance problems that have threatened their economic viability. A way round these problems isto have major demonstration programmesbut these are extremely costly for large plant and difficult to fund.

Another major stumbling block for new plant, particularly coal plant, is getting authorisation and public acceptance to build it whatever the technology. This is true for large demonstrationplant, for commercial plant and for major upgrades to existingcoal plant.

The Advanced Power Generation Task Force of the Foresight programme has recognised these difficultiesand has proposed the development of a Virtual Plant Demonstration Model (VPDM) as a way of helping to ensure that new technologies are successful in getting into the market place in the future. It is envisaged that a future VPDM will provide an integrated software environment which will allow the full potential for whole-plant software modelling to be realised, such that UK industry can provide competitive power plant solutions with significantly reduced development costs, with significantlyreduc ed risk and with a cost-competitive final product. This would be applicable to new plant technologies both for existing plant and future plant.