Technologies¶
Technologies are the core components of a Calliope energy system. They represent generation, conversion, storage, demand, and transmission assets assigned to specific locations.
Technology types¶
Calliope defines the following base technology types, all of which are supported in TEMPO:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
supply |
Produces an energy carrier from a resource (e.g. solar PV, wind turbine, gas plant) |
supply_plus |
Supply with additional storage capability (e.g. concentrating solar with thermal storage) |
demand |
Consumes an energy carrier (e.g. electricity demand, heat demand) |
storage |
Stores and retrieves an energy carrier (e.g. battery, pumped hydro) |
transmission |
Moves energy between locations (e.g. power line, pipeline) |
conversion |
Converts one carrier to another (e.g. heat pump, electrolyser) |
conversion_plus |
Multi-carrier conversion (e.g. combined heat and power plant) |
Adding a technology from a template¶
- Navigate to the Technologies tab.
- Click Add Technology → From template.
- Browse the template library, organized by category:
- Renewable:
solar_pv,wind_onshore,wind_offshore,run_of_river - Conventional:
gas_ccgt,coal,nuclear,diesel_generator - Storage:
battery,pumped_hydro,hydrogen_storage - Hydrogen:
electrolyser,fuel_cell,hydrogen_pipeline - Demand:
demand_electricity,demand_heat,demand_hydrogen - Transmission:
ac_line,dc_link,heat_pipe
- Renewable:
- Select a template. The parameter form is pre-filled with typical default values.
- Assign the technology to one or more locations.
- Review and adjust parameters (see below), then click Save.
Adding a custom technology¶
Click Add Technology → Custom to start from a blank form. You must specify at minimum:
- Name — unique identifier (no spaces).
- Type — one of the Calliope base types.
- Carrier in / Carrier out — energy carriers consumed and produced.
- Assigned locations.
Key parameters¶
The parameters shown depend on the technology type. Common ones:
| Parameter | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
energy_cap_max |
kW | Maximum installable capacity |
energy_cap_min |
kW | Minimum installable capacity (if > 0, forces installation) |
energy_eff |
— | Conversion or transmission efficiency (0–1) |
resource |
— | Resource availability (can reference a time series) |
resource_area_max |
km² | Maximum area available for resource-constrained technologies |
cost_energy_cap |
currency/kW | Capital cost per unit of capacity |
cost_om_annual |
currency/kW/year | Annual fixed O&M cost |
cost_om_prod |
currency/kWh | Variable O&M cost per unit of generation |
storage_cap_max |
kWh | Maximum storage capacity (storage types only) |
charge_rate |
— | Storage charge/discharge rate relative to energy capacity |
Linking time series to a parameter¶
Parameters marked with a wave icon (~) can be driven by a time series instead of a fixed scalar. Click the icon to open the time series selector and pick an uploaded CSV column. See Time Series for upload instructions.
Technology colours on the map¶
Each technology type is assigned a colour. Location markers on the map mix the colours of all technologies assigned to that location, giving a quick visual summary of the generation mix.
Deleting a technology¶
Click ⋯ → Delete next to the technology in the list. This removes the technology from the model and from all location assignments.