2013 Round 1: Energy Operations

Description
This workbook is taken from the 1st round of the 2013 Modeloff financial modeling world championships.

Follow the instructions in order to complete the model:

INTRODUCTION

You’ve been asked to prepare a model to forecast the performance of a Solar PV (photo-voltaic) business. The business buys rooftop solar panels from overseas and installs them on the rooftops of people’s houses in Australia. The business then sells the electricity generated at an agreed price schedule to either the owner of the house or the main electrical grid.

You will need to calculate forecasts of:

i) kW of installed capacity
ii) Generation of electricity (in kWh)
iii) Purchasing and installation costs
iv) Revenues from generation.

Note on Energy Industry Terminology:

- “kW” stands for kilowatt, and is a measure of electrical power.
- “kWh” stands for kilowatt-hour, and is a measure of energy, equal to the work done by a power of 1 kW for one hour.

For example, a small electric heater might operate at a power of 2,000 watts or 2kW. In three hours of operation, it would consume 2kW x 3 hours = 6kWh of electricity (energy). As the business is based in Australia, the costs and revenue forecasts need to be prepared in Australian Dollars (AUD). You are to prepare a monthly forecast model that includes the dates from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2023.

To assist you in your task, the assumptions page has already been set out for you in the included workbook, but with the operational assumptions missing. You will need to fill in the assumptions, and then model the necessary calculations.

Allotted time: 35 minutes

Once finished, feel free to upload your model to your own dedicated author channel!