Case study - Energy modeling at Caminus

Caminus Corporation is the leading provider of software solutions and strategic consulting to participants in competitive energy markets. In December of 2000, the company posted annual revenues of over USD 50 million. Headquartered in New York City, Caminus serves a client base of more than 150 of the world's foremost energy enterprises and financial energy traders. To remain at the top, Caminus has deployed Dash Optimization's Xpress-MP optimization software to assist in creating energy software solutions and strategic planning for their market.

Solution
Dash Optimization's Xpress-MP allows Caminus to easily and expediently customize models, enabling Caminus to create several models defined in different time frames. These models are then used to accurately assess future electricity prices, the need for new generator plants, and the relationship between the electricity industry and other energy markets. As Serena Hesmondhalgh, Director, Caminus UK attests, "Dash's products have enabled us to rapidly develop such models and consequently have been extremely helpful." With the state-of-the art optimization functionality that Xpress-MP provides, Caminus creates forecasting models that range from a half-hour scale (Caminus Daily Model) to one of thirty years or more (Caminus Capacity Model).

More Specifics and Benefits
The Caminus Daily Model is used to simulate the optimum scheduling of a plant. In the UK, this scheduling is dependent on electricity prices that are set at half-hour intervals. These prices are determined using Xpress-MP's mixed integer facility (MIP) to take into account the static and dynamic behavior of the plant.

On the other hand, the Caminus Capacity Model is used to determine the capacity needed for electricity generating plants over the next thirty years or more. Many different countries have adapted this model to plan their power system infrastructures. These types of models have taken into account the impact of current and future government policies along with the implications of fuel demand and its consequent effect upon emissions of pollutants.

About Caminus
Through the use of Dash's Xpress-MP and its capabilities in linear and integer optimization, Caminus is able to produce competitive software solutions that place them at the top of their field. In 2000, Caminus' customer base grew by more than 50%. To keep up with this demand, Caminus currently employs over 330 energy market experts globally. Caminus' offices are located in Houston and Dallas, TX; Calgary, CA; and London and Cambridge, UK.